Laboratorio de Materiales Avanzados, Departamento de Química Inorgánica-IUMA, Universidad de Alicante, Spain.
Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Transl Vis Sci Technol. 2022 Sep 1;11(9):1. doi: 10.1167/tvst.11.9.1.
The purpose of this study was to improve the biomechanical properties of the cornea through the incorporation of carbon nanostructures.
Healthy Japanese rabbits were used to evaluate the effect of carbon nanostructures' incorporation in the cornea. Rabbits were divided in two groups A and B. In each of these groups, the corneas were divided in (i) corneas not submitted to any treatment (the control group), (ii) corneas modified either with carbon nanostructures (group A), or with the traditional cross-linking technology (group B). After modification, rabbits were euthanized at different time intervals. The biomechanical properties of the treated corneas were evaluated using the inflation method.
Biomechanical tests based on the inflation method show that the incorporation of carbon nanostructures to the cornea and their proper distribution within it gives rise to a large improvement in the mechanical properties and tangential elastic modulus (up to 155%). These results anticipate that this novel and easy approach based on nanotechnology is able to compete with the actual cross-linking technology applied in clinical ophthalmology using a photosensitive molecule, such as riboflavin and unpleasant UV-A radiation.
The incorporation of carbon nanostructures (single-walled carbon nanotubes and graphene) in corneal stroma is proposed as a promising alternative to improve the mechanical properties in the treated eyes. The proper dispersion of the carbon nanostructures a few days after implementation (down to 60 micrometers depth) explains the successful results achieved.
Nanotechnology applied to the eye constitutes a promising approach for ocular tissue reinforcement.
本研究旨在通过引入碳纳米结构来改善角膜的生物力学性能。
使用健康的日本兔来评估碳纳米结构在角膜中的引入效果。兔子被分为两组 A 和 B。在每组中，角膜又分为(i)未接受任何处理的角膜（对照组），(ii)用碳纳米结构修饰的角膜（A 组），或用传统交联技术修饰的角膜（B 组）。修饰后，兔子在不同的时间间隔被安乐死。用膨胀法评估处理后的角膜的生物力学性能。
基于膨胀法的生物力学测试表明，将碳纳米结构引入角膜并使其在其中适当分布，可显著提高角膜的机械性能和切向弹性模量（高达 155%）。这些结果表明，这种基于纳米技术的新型且简单的方法能够与临床眼科中使用光敏分子（如核黄素和令人不快的 UV-A 辐射）的实际交联技术相竞争。
将碳纳米结构（单壁碳纳米管和石墨烯）引入角膜基质被提出作为一种有前途的替代方法，以改善治疗眼的机械性能。在实施几天后（深度可达 60 微米），碳纳米结构的适当分散解释了所取得的成功结果。
蒋锐
