OBJECTIVE: In order to study the mechanism of the aqueous humor circulation and its relationship to the glaucoma macroscopically with engineering methods.

METHODS: A dynamistic model was presented, which can be used to simulate the situation and the treatment of the primary open angle glaucoma (POAG). The frame of the model was built based on the ophthalmically accepted feedback mechanism between the aqueous humor circulation and the intraocular pressure (IOP). The transfer functions and the parameters were educed from the analysis of physiological theories, the basic elements of hydrodynamics, and the clinical parameters. The relation between the parameters of the system and the episode mechanism of POAG was discussed. A digital method was used to simulate the Challenge test and some medicines' treatment of POAG, and the results were consistent with clinical observations.

RESULTS: The results of simulation illuminate that the model can simulate the mechanism of the aqueous humor circulation and the curative mechanism of some medicines under the physiological condition and the pathological condition of the POAG.

CONCLUSION: A few parameters which can hardly be captured with clinical method could be obtained from the model. These parameters can be helpful for the diagnosis and prediction of the curative effect.