To begin corneal abrasion, place an anesthetized mouse on a table. Apply a drop of artificial tear on the eye undergoing the surgery. Apply a drop of ocular gel on the contralateral eye.
Next, position the mouse on its side on a heated plate. Gently use a cotton swab to absorb the artificial tear, and brush aside the mouse's eyelashes without making contact with the eye. Turn on the ocular burr, and carefully open the mouse's eyelid with two fingers.
Simultaneously shield the vibrancy to prevent them from entangling in the burr. Locate the pupil or the eye center and gently apply the ocular burr to the eye's surface in circular motions until the epithelium is removed. Alternatively, perform about 20 circular movements on the cornea.
Now apply a drop of fluorescent staining solution on the abraided eye. After 20 seconds, dab the eye with a tissue to absorb the solution. Then rinse it with a drop of artificial tear.
Finally, absorb the artificial tear with a tissue, and illuminate the eye using a blue cobalt lamp. Prior to the surgery, the basal epithelium was intact and the nerve fibers in the sub basal plexus formed a vortex. The burr tip removed the outer corneal layer, leaving the stroma and endothelium intact with a visible gap at the basal epithelium and sub basal plexus.
Regeneration of the epithelium occurred over a week post-surgery. However, the vortex remained absent from the corneal center.
