High-frequency Quantitative Ultrasound-based Assessment of Microstructural Change in Myopic Guinea Pig Sclera

Myopia, also known as near-sightedness is one of the common eye disorders. While myopia is not often a significant cause for concern when mild, eyes with high myopia (HM, defined as more than -6.0 diopters (D) of near sightedness) can progress to pathologic myopia, with up to 70% of patients threatened with blindness or visual impairment. As myopia progresses, posterior eye elongation is caused by changes in the microstructural properties of the sclera including decreased collagen and fibril diameters. Highfrequency quantitative ultrasound (QUS) allows non-invasive measures of biomechanical parameters associated with changes in tissue microstructure. This study investigated microstructural changes occurring in the posterior sclera (PS) in myopic guinea pig (GP) eyes by means of QUS with a 20μm spatial resolution.