The purpose of this study is the mechanical characterization of the mid-to- old-age human anterior lens capsules (ALCs) obtained by capsulorhexis using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and a nanoindenter at different spatial scales. The dependencies on the human age, presence or absence of pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PEX), and application of trypan blue staining during the surgery were analyzed. The measurements on both the anterior (AS) and epithelial (ES) sides of the ALC were conducted and the effect of cells present on the epithelial side was carefully accounted for. The ES of the ALC had a homogenous distribution of the Young's modulus over the surface as shown by the macroscale mapping with the nanoindenter and local AFM indentations, while the AS was more heterogeneous. Age-related changes were assessed in groups ranging from the mid-age (from 48 years) to old-age (up to 93 years). We found that the ES was always stiffer than the AS, and this difference decreased with age due to a gradual decrease in the Young's modulus of the ES and an increase in the modulus of the AS. No significant changes were found in the mechanical properties of ALCs of PEX patients versus the PEX-free group, as well as in the properties of the ALC with and without trypan blue staining.

这项研究的目的是通过撕囊术使用原子力显微镜（AFM）和纳米压头在不同的空间尺度上获得的中老年人类前晶状体囊（ALC）的机械特性。分析了人类年龄，假剥脱综合征（PEX）是否存在以及手术期间台盼蓝染色的应用等方面的依赖性。进行了ALC的前侧（AS）和上皮侧（ES）侧的测量，并仔细考虑了存在于上皮侧的细胞的影响。ALC的ES在表面上具有杨氏模量的均匀分布，如使用纳米压头和局部AFM压痕的宏观图所示，而AS更不均匀。从中年（48岁）到老年（最高93岁）的组评估了与年龄相关的变化。我们发现ES总是比AS硬，并且由于ES的杨氏模量逐渐减小和AS的模量增加，这种差异随着年龄的增长而减小。与无PEX组相比，PEX患者的ALC的机械性能以及带有或不带有锥虫蓝染色的ALC的性能均未发现明显变化。