Figure 1.

Multiscale modeling approach modified from References 21 and 22. For the mesoscale model (top), tissue mechanical properties were based on fiber density and orientation information from serial histology. Uniform boundary pressure was applied to simulate the hoop stress caused by IOP. Displacement predictions were obtained from the mesoscale model to use as boundary conditions for the microscale model (bottom). For the microscale model, the lamina cribrosa region of histological sections was imaged at high resolution and segmented into the laminar beams and neural tissues. A 3D reconstruction of the beams was used as the basis for the finite element mesh. Fiber orientation was taken directly from polarized light microscopy images.