Simulation of time-fractional oxygen diffusion in cornea coated by contact-lens

Abstract

In this paper, the time-fractional oxygen diffusion has been simulated in a one-dimensional (1D) corneal-contact lens (CL) system. Different CLs have been employed as Balafilcon, thin- and thick-Polymacon. It is assumed that homogeneous and isotropic porous mediums of cornea and CL is saturated with compressible oxygen. The computations of the time-fractional derivations are done based on the Caputo method. The obtained results show that the fractional derivative order (FDO) severely affects pressure distribution in cornea and CL. Consequently, the magnitudes of post-lens-tear-film (PoLTF) pressure change due to diverse FDOs. Particularly, maximum changes have been observed in the results gained from the CLs with thicknesses more than 100 μm. The agreement of the results obtained from the time-fractional modeling with the experimental data compared to the standard diffusion modeling has been improved by more than 36%. Finally, it has been demonstrated that high-thickness CLs can cause exist anomalous diffusion process in cornea tissue.