Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery
Volume 35, Issue 7 , Pages 1266-1272, July 2009

Analysis of intraocular lens surface adhesiveness by atomic force microscopy

From Vision Engineering (M. Lombardo, G. Lombardo), Rome, and Reggio Calabria, CEMIF. CAL, CNR-INFM LiCryL Laboratory, Physics Department, University of Calabria, Rende (M. Lombardo, Carbone, G. Lombardo, De Santo, Barberi), Italy; the Department of Engineering Science (Carbone), University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

Received 30 December 2008; received in revised form 4 February 2009; accepted 6 February 2009.

Purpose

To analyze intraocular lens (IOL) optic surface adhesiveness using atomic force microscopy (AFM).

Setting

LiCryL Laboratory, University of Calabria, Rende, Italy.

Methods

The surface adhesive properties of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), silicone, hydrophilic acrylic, and hydrophobic acrylic IOLs were evaluated by AFM. Analysis was performed at room temperature (21°C) in a liquid environment using the force-versus-distance mode of a commercial instrument (NanoScope III). Measurements were acquired with rectangular silicon cantilevers of a nominal elastic constant of 10 Newton/m. The nominal value of the tip's radius of curvature was 1 μm, and the scanning speed during the acquisitions ranged from 10 to 400 nm/s.

Results

The adhesion force measurements showed different characteristics for the various types of IOLs (P<.001, analysis of variance). The hydrophobic acrylic IOL had the largest mean adhesive force (283.75 nanoNewton [nN] ± 0.14 [SD]) followed by the hydrophilic acrylic (84.76 ± 0.94 nN), PMMA (45.77 ± 0.47 nN), and silicone (2.10 ± 0.01 nN) IOLs.

Conclusions

The surface properties of the biomaterials used to manufacture IOLs are important because they can influence the incidence and severity of posterior capsule opacification (PCO). Although further studies are necessary to elucidate the mechanism of PCO development and the interface interactions between the IOL and capsule, the results in this study may bolster the theory of manufacturing more-adhesive materials to prevent PCO.

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 No author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.

 Presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, May 2009.

 Innova Technology Solutions, Chieti, Italy, provided the consumables.

PII: S0886-3350(09)00364-2

doi:10.1016/j.jcrs.2009.02.029

Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery
Volume 35, Issue 7 , Pages 1266-1272, July 2009

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