• B E Cohan and D F Bohr.
• Eye Research Fund Laboratory, Department of Physiology, Medical School, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48104, USA. becohan@umich.edu
• Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2001 Feb 1; 42 (2): 340-2.

PurposeTo determine whether the Goldmann applanation tonometer can be modified to measure intraocular pressure (IOP) in the conscious rat.MethodsIn anesthetized rats Goldmann tonometers were tested that had reduced biprism angles in the applanating tips and reduced weights in the tonometer body from those used in humans and species with similar size eyes. Tonometers with tips with biprism angles of 48 degrees and an applied weight of 25 mg per Goldmann scale division (2 g full scale) were calibrated for the rat against manometrically measured IOP. Tonometers, thus modified, were then used in conscious, unsedated rats.ResultsIn conscious rats the measured mean Goldmann value was 15.5 +/- 0.6 mm Hg (confidence interval = 14.1, 16.6 mm Hg). This was the plateau level reached after the repeated applanations (approximately 10) required to eliminate an artifactual decline in initial Goldmann readings, which was larger than that in humans.ConclusionsThe Goldmann applanation tonometer was modified to measure IOP in the conscious, unsedated rat. This instrument, the standard for measuring this key physiological parameter in the human eye, can now be applied to the laboratory rat. This may advance the use of this important animal as a model in IOP and glaucoma research.

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