The mouse lens is frequently used both in vivo and ex vivo in ophthalmic research to model conditions affecting the human lens, such as presbyopia. The mouse lens has a delicate structure which is prone to damage and biomechanical changes both before and after extraction from the whole globe. When not properly controlled for, these changes can confound the biomechanical analysis of mouse lenses. In this study, atomic force microscopy microindentation was used to assess changes in the Young's Modulus of Elasticity of the mouse lens as a function of mouse age and postmortem time. Old mouse lenses measured immediately postmortem were significantly stiffer than young mouse lenses (p = 0.028). However, after 18 h of incubation, there was no measurable difference in lens stiffness between old and young mouse lenses (p = 0.997). This demonstrates the need for careful experimental control in experiments using the mouse lens, especially regarding postmortem time.

小鼠晶状体在体内和体外都经常使用在眼科研究中模拟影响人类晶状体的条件，例如老花眼。鼠标晶状体结构精巧，在从整个地球中提取前后都容易损坏和生物力学变化。如果控制不当，这些变化会混淆鼠标镜片的生物力学分析。在这项研究中，原子力显微镜显微压痕用于评估小鼠晶状体杨氏弹性模量随小鼠年龄和死后时间的变化。死后立即测量的老老鼠镜片明显比年轻老鼠镜片更硬 (p = 0.028)。然而，在孵育 18 小时后，老小鼠和幼小鼠晶状体之间的晶状体刚度没有可测量的差异 (p = 0.997)。