Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is an easy-to-use, powerful, high-resolution microscope that allows the user to image any surface and under any aqueous condition. AFM has been used in the investigation of the structural and mechanical properties of a wide range of biological matters including biomolecules, biomaterials, cells, and tissues. It provides the capacity to acquire high-resolution images of biosamples at the nanoscale and allows at readily carrying out mechanical characterization. The capacity of AFM to image and interact with surfaces, under physiologically relevant conditions, is of great importance for realistic and accurate medical and pharmaceutical applications. The aim of this paper is to review recent trends of the use of AFM on biological materials related to health and sickness. First, we present AFM components and its different imaging modes and we continue with combined imaging and coupled AFM systems. Then, we discuss the use of AFM to nanocharacterize collagen, the major fibrous protein of the human body, which has been correlated with many pathological conditions. In the next section, AFM nanolevel surface characterization as a tool to detect possible pathological conditions such as osteoarthritis and cancer is presented. Finally, we demonstrate the use of AFM for studying other pathological conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), through the investigation of amyloid fibrils and viruses, respectively. Consequently, AFM stands out as the ideal research instrument for exploring the detection of pathological conditions even at very early stages, making it very attractive in the area of bio- and nanomedicine.

中文翻译：

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与病理状态相关的生物材料的原子力显微镜

原子力显微镜 (AFM) 是一种易于使用、功能强大、高分辨率的显微镜，允许用户在任何水性条件下对任何表面进行成像。AFM 已用于研究各种生物物质的结构和机械特性，包括生物分子、生物材料、细胞和组织。它提供了获取纳米级生物样品高分辨率图像的能力，并允许轻松进行机械表征。AFM 在生理相关条件下对表面进行成像和相互作用的能力对于现实和准确的医疗和制药应用非常重要。本文的目的是回顾最近在与健康和疾病相关的生物材料上使用 AFM 的趋势。第一的，我们展示了 AFM 组件及其不同的成像模式，并且我们继续使用组合成像和耦合 AFM 系统。然后，我们讨论了使用 AFM 对胶原蛋白进行纳米表征，胶原蛋白是人体的主要纤维蛋白，与许多病理状况相关。在下一节中，介绍了 AFM 纳米级表面表征作为检测可能的病理状况（如骨关节炎和癌症）的工具。最后，我们分别通过研究淀粉样原纤维和病毒，证明了 AFM 在研究其他病理状况中的应用，例如阿尔茨海默病和人类免疫缺陷病毒 (HIV)。因此，AFM 是探索病理状况检测的理想研究工具，即使是在非常早期的阶段，