Progress in the construction and application of experimental corneal models in vitro

In the research on the diagnosis and treatment of corneal diseases, the construction of an ideal in vitro corneal model is not only conducive to the further study of corneal physiology and disease mechanisms, but also conducive to the accurate evaluation of drug efficacy and safety. Traditional animal models have research barriers such as species diversity, high dependence on animals, and animal ethics. The corneal model constructed by model components can only simulate its structure macroscopically, and can not summarize the physiological characteristics of the cornea. With the development of cell biology, materials science, computer technology and other fields, a variety of new in vitro corneal models have been successfully developed and applied, which not only overcome the shortcomings of traditional corneal models, but also more accurately simulate the role of corneal barrier and the characteristics of corneal physiological environment, especially the corneal microfluidic chip model based on micro-physiological system, which can reproduce human cornea in vitro. This article provides a comprehensive overview of in vitro corneal models of different dimensions, including 2D models and 3D models, with a focus on their applications, strengths, limitations, and recent advances.