LIGHT-SCATTERING TESTS OF STRUCTURE IN NORMAL AND SWOLLEN RABBIT CORNEAS

Theoretical and experimental results are compared to determine whether the features seen in electron micrographs of swollen corneas are accurate depictions of the cornea's ultrastructure or whether they have been distorted by the procedures used to prepare the micrograph. The recently developed method of direct summation of fields is used to compute the light scattering expected from the structures depicted in electron micrographs of normal, 15% swollen, and 25% swollen rabbit corneas. Comparisons of these theoretical predictions with experimental light-scattering measurements performed on freshly excised rabbit corneas show good agreement, supporting the idea that electron micrographs are a quantitatively accurate representation of the cornea's ultrastructure.