Figure 2.

The hierarchical structure of the cornea showing that it is basically composed of three composite regions. A fourth composite region, Descemet's membrane, is included for completion. The macroscopic, microscopic, and nanoscopic features are emphasized (from left to right) to help illustrate the various interactions between the tissue components. Bowman's layer is essentially a random fibril, woven-mat composite, which maximizes multi-axial stiffness and strength. The underlying anterior third of the stroma proper is a lamellar interwoven fabric composed of unidirectionally (UD) fibril-reinforced lamellae. This architectural hierarchy is more rigid against z-axis deformations compared to non-woven UD-laminates. In the human body, the corneal structure is most similar to that of the pericardium, which serves to mechanically prevent the formation of aneurysms in the heart. The posterior two-thirds of the stroma is essentially a non-woven, UD-fibril-reinforced lamellar composite, which maximizes longitudinal x- and y-axis stiffness and strength, but has only weak transverse z-axis stiffness and strength. In the human body, its structure is most similar to that of the annulus fibrosis of the intervertebral disk, which functions efficiently as a cushioning mechanism for the spine, but is prone to chronic biomechanical failure. The UD-orientation of collagen fibrils in each lamella is vital because this arrangement prevents fibril undulation and thus maximizes the initial axial tensile strength of each fibril. Descemet's membrane forms a hexagonal lattice. Taken together these composite-like regions are responsible for the overall stiffness, strength, extensibility, and toughness of the cornea. They also help explain how the cornea behaves biomechanically after surgery, disease, or injury. Reprinted with permission (Kaufman et al., 2011).