Refractive index calculation study of collagen-chitosan-sodium hyaluronate using Mach-Zehnder interferometer for artificial cornea

Abstract

Corneal damage is a major cause of blindness worldwide. As reported by Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness (RAAB) in 2013, Indonesia is facing a serious problem of cornea blindness with 966.326 patients of the 2 million population. Gold standard such as keratoplasty couldn't completely heal cornea injury due to the limited number of donors. Those concerns lead to the development of artificial corneal tissue which provides corneal function as a refraction medium. This research conducted to provide initial description of Collagen (crosslinked HMPC)-Chitosan-Sodium Hyaluronate (Col/HPMC-Chi-NaHA) as artificial cornea through refractive index calculation study. Membrane was synthesized by forming 20% w/v Collagen crosslinked HMPC, 10% w/v Chitosan, and 0.6% w/v NaHA. Refractive index calculation is done using the Mach-Zehnder Interferometer (MZI). A green laser with a wavelength of 532ânm was passed over the membrane placed on a glass slide to produce a bright-dark pattern. Using optical path length difference concepts, membrane refractive index was obtained. The membrane displays desirable refractive index properties for corneal tissue engineering applications with the value of refractive index of 1.499.