Document Type

Article

Original Publication Date

1998

Journal/Book/Conference Title

The Biophysical Journal

Volume

75

Issue

5

First Page

2520

Last Page

2531

DOI of Original Publication

10.1016/S0006-3495(98)77697-0

Comments

Originally published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3495(98)77697-0

Under an Elsevier user license

Date of Submission

February 2015

Abstract

Abstract

The method of photonic band structure is used to calculate the frequencies of light that propagate in lattice models of the cornea and sclera of the mammalian eye, providing an explanation for transparency in the cornea that first properly accounts for multiple scattering of light. Each eye tissue is modeled as an ordered array of collagen rods, and photonic band structure methods are used to solve Maxwell's equations exactly for these models, a procedure that automatically effectively includes all orders of multiple scattering. These calculations show that the dispersion relation for the cornea is linear in the visible range, implying that the cornea is transparent. We show that the transmissivity is ∼97% by using an effective medium approximation derived from the photonic band structure results and applicable in the visible region. In contrast, the dispersion relation for the model in the sclera is not linear in the visible region, and there are band gaps in this region that could play an important role in the transmission of light in the sclera.

Rights

From The Biophysical Journal, Ameen, D.B., Bishop, M.F., McMullen, T., A Lattice Model for Computing the Transmissivity of the Cornea and Sclera, Vol. 75, Page 2520. Copyright © 1998 The Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. Reprinted with permission.

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