Case Study: University of Washington advances corneal elastography with OnScale

How University of Washington is Developing a Novel Medical Device with OnScale

The University of Washington’s Department of Bioengineering was working to improve optical coherence elastography (OCE), a non-contact method for measuring the eye’s mechanical properties and detecting changes in corneal elasticity and intraocular pressure. To better understand how acoustic microtapping (AμT) excitation and tissue boundaries affect these measurements, the team turned to OnScale’s simulation software to model elastic wave propagation in nearly incompressible soft tissue.

Using OnScale, the researchers built a 2D finite element model that closely matched their OCE experiments and avoided common numerical issues such as hourglass modes, dissipation, and dispersion. The model accurately reproduced guided wave behavior and imaging artifacts, helping show that limited signal bandwidth can cause group velocity-based estimates to severely underestimate shear wave speed by up to 60%. OnScale’s results also highlighted that acoustic microtapping offers much higher bandwidth than air-puff methods, supporting more accurate elasticity reconstruction and advancing OCE toward clinical use.

University of Washington

Ivan Pelivanov

Associate Professor