The cornea consists of three important layers, from the point of view of barrier properties. Two outer layers are cellular membranes which have characteristic high perm-selectivity. Under normal conditions, over 85％ of the thickness is occupied by the corneal stroma. The corneal stroma seems to be a simpler barrier material than cellular membranes;however, because of its structure the stroma has a strong tendency to imbibe water and swells in the direction of the thickness.nA theory based on the thermodynamic consideration of surface activity is developed in this paper to explain the imbibing property of the stroma, and the transport of water across the cornea is examined by the principles of irreversible thermodynamics.
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