Engineering principles applied to the eye to better understand diseases and injuries

The theories of structural engineering have been applied to better understanding diseases and injuries to the eye in the first paper from Interface, the Royal Society’s new cross-disciplinary journal, published online today (Thursday 6 May 2004).

The paper describes how structural analysis tools have been used to study the behaviour of the cornea under different loading states to predict its response to disease and injury. In particular, these models have been adapted to study the response to keratoconus (a disease causing lost of corneal tissue) and the procedures used to measure the pressure inside the eyeball.

Lord May of Oxford, President of the Royal Society, speaking at the launch of Interface said: “This fusion of engineering and medical science is an excellent example of the type of cross-disciplinary research which Interface will cover. The aim is for the journal to peer review and publish excellent scientific research at the interface between the biological and physical sciences. Methodologies from disciplines such as chemistry, computer science or physics can provide insight into biological and medical sciences. Equally, advances in the life sciences are leading to innovations in the physical sciences.”

Professor William Bonfield CBE, a Fellow of the Royal Society, who is based at the Cambridge Centre for Medical Materials, will edit the new journal. The Royal Society, as the UK’s national academy of science, publishes a range of journals covering the biological and physical sciences as well as the history of science. These include Philosophical Transactions, the world’s longest-running journal, and Biology Letters, a recent and highly successful rapid online publication service to complement Proceedings: Biological Sciences. Interface will be its first entirely new journal since the introduction of Notes & Records 66 years ago.

For more information on Interface and to download a copy the paper go to: https://royalsociety.org/

For further information contact:
Tim Watson
Press and Public Relations
The Royal Society, London
Tel: 020 7451 2508/2510
email