We designed an experiment for the purpose of investigating whether or not the movement of macromolecular drugs in the vitreous is hindered when subjected to fluid flow. If so, what is the hindrance coefficient. The vitreous humor is extracted from bovine eyes with intact hyaloid membrane and put in the cell in the experimental set up presented in the picture. The liquid part of the vitreous is drained by a negative pressure at the bottom of the cell, effectively siphoning the liquid. The draining liquid moves at the velocity of the meniscus while the fiber (hyaluronic acid and collagen) undergoes motion by compression with a linearly stratified velocity distribution. The result is a net relative velocity between the liquid and the fiber causing mobilization of the pink Nano-particles injected in the vitreous. However, it is observed that the nanoparticles move slower than the relative velocity of the liquid. The movement of the pink drug surrogate within the vitreous humor is recorded every two minutes with a camera and at the same time the position of the meniscus is also recorded. The experimental data are analyzed with MATLAB and velocity of the bolus of drug and meniscus is obtained throughout the experiment.
Since the movement of macromolecular drug in vitreous humor is hindered, it is expected for the velocity of the bolus to be lower compared to the relative velocity of the liquid. The results of one the experiments is presented here. Currently, more experiments are being carried out to reach a final conclusion. The units of velocity in the 3rd picture are cm/min. To navigate through the pictures, use the left and right arrow.
