Hypothermia treatment for ocular ischemia: A multiphase porous thermal model of human eye

Localized therapeutic hypothermia is a cooling technique to reduce eye temperature to prevent neuron loss under ischemic conditions. The treatment is a non-invasive intervention technique that aids recovery and may reduce vision loss in ocular ischemia patients. The paper presents a thermal analysis simulation to predict the temperature change in the human eye under local hypothermia treatment using a scleral contact cooling ring device. A thermoregulating blood flow model is introduced to simulate realistic blood circulation in the eye using a three-phase porous media that includes tissue, inflowing blood, and outflowing blood. A transient analysis is performed using a three-dimensional human eye model consisting of an ocular globe and its surrounding fat and muscles. The results show that the optic nerve head and retina temperature decreases to the therapeutic temperature of below 34 °C in 10.58 min of application of the eye cooling device. Sensitivity analysis was performed on all the material and thermal properties to identify the critical variables in the thermal evaluation of the human eye.