DDPIV of Heat-Driven Convection in an In-Vitro Eye Model

The CDC has identified vision loss as a growing public health concern, with eye disease prevalence on the rise. Three of the most common and vision-threatening eye diseases, wet age-related macular degeneration, proliferative diabetic retinopathy, and diabetic macular edema, are typically managed through periodic intravitreal injections. However, treatment effectiveness varies. Given that the half-life of the drug is limited, one possible cause of the ineffective treatment is inefficient delivery to the target region. This presentation investigates heat-induced convection in an in-vitro eye model as a strategy for enhancing drug delivery by accelerating fluid transport. Volumetric flow measurement and visualization experiments reveal how heating influences fluid mixing and particle trajectories for targeted treatment.