PURPOSE: To assess a new non-contact method for non-invasive measurement of intraocular pressure (IOP) using near-infrared spectroscopy.DESIGN: Experimental study.METHODS: Eleven porcine eyes were cannulated into the anterior chamber by a needle connected with a water column. Measuring the near-infrared spectrum in diffuse reflectance out of the anterior chamber by near-infrared spectroscopy, IOP was determined and compared with the height of the water column which was varied between 0 cm and 100 cm.RESULTS: In total, 363 near-infrared spectrometric measurement values were obtained. Correlating the near-infrared spectrometric measurements with the height of the water column showed a relationship with a correlation coefficient of r(2) = .858 and a steepness of the regression line of .96.CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present pilot study suggest that near-infrared spectrometric tonometry may present a new technology for non-invasive and non-contact IOP measurement.
Animals Intraocular Pressure