This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related letter  • Related article  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Statistics and Research Methods  • Eye Injuries/ Ocular Trauma  • Alert me on articles by topic

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

The finite element method is now widely used in all areas of medicine and dentistry. We are pleased to see that Stitzel et al¹ used the finite element method to analyze the effects of blunt trauma to the eye. Stitzel and colleagues found that lens stiffness is a critical parameter in the eye's response to blunt injury. However, the proper choice of baseline material properties is essential for the finite element method to reliably predict this or any other outcome.

We are concerned with the accuracy of the baseline data used by Stitzel and colleagues in determining the lenticular elastic modulus. The elastic modulus is a measure of stiffness that is calculated as shown in the following formula:

Stitzel and colleagues obtained an elastic modulus of 6.89 MPa for the group of patients aged 66 years or older from force displacement measurements of cataractous lens nuclei in vitro.^2-3 We are . . . [Full Text of this Article]

AUTHOR INFORMATION
Ronald A. Schachar, MD, PhD; Ali Abolmaali, PhD

RELATED LETTER

Proper Material Properties Are Required for the Finite Element Method—Reply
Joel Stitzel and Stefan Duma
Arch Ophthalmol. 2006;124(7):1065-1066.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

RELATED ARTICLE

Blunt Trauma of the Aging Eye: Injury Mechanisms and Increasing Lens Stiffness
Joel D. Stitzel, Gail A. Hansen, Ian P. Herring, and Stefan M. Duma
Arch Ophthalmol. 2005;123(6):789-794.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT