A biphasic approach for characterizing tensile, compressive and hydraulic properties of the sclera

This study introduced a biphasic poroelastic framework for characterizing the mechanical behavior of scleral tissue using unconfined compression testing. Porcine and murine scleral samples were subjected to stepwise stress-relaxation protocols and analyzed using a biphasic conewise linear elastic model to extract compressive modulus, tensile modulus, and hydraulic permeability. The approach demonstrated excellent curve fitting and reasonable repeatability, producing material property values consistent with those obtained using more complex tensile and permeability-specific assays. Importantly, the method enabled the first quantitative measurement of intrinsic mechanical properties of the murine sclera, establishing a scalable technique for studying genetic and disease-related changes in ocular biomechanics.