Development of a Spherical Model with a 3D Microchannel: An Application to Glaucoma Surgery.

Three-dimensional (3D) microfluidic channels, which simulate human tissues such as blood vessels, are useful in surgical simulator models for evaluating surgical devices and training novice surgeons. However, animal models and current artificial models do not sufficiently mimic the anatomical and mechanical properties of human tissues. Therefore, we established a novel fabrication method to fabricate an eye model for use as a surgical simulator. For the glaucoma surgery task, the eye model consists of a sclera with a clear cornea; a 3D microchannel with a width of 200-500 µm, representing the Schlemm's canal (SC); and a thin membrane with a thickness of 40-132 µm, representing the trabecular meshwork (TM). The sclera model with a clear cornea and SC was fabricated by 3D molding. Blow molding was used to fabricate the TM to cover the inner surface of the sclera part. Soft materials with controllable mechanical behaviors were used to fabricate the sclera and TM parts to mimic the mechanical properties of human tissues. Additionally, to simulate the surgery with constraints similar to those in a real operation, the eye model was installed on a skull platform. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an integration method for fabricating an eye model that has a 3D microchannel representing the SC and a membrane representing the TM, to develop a glaucoma model for training novice surgeons.