Ultrasound elastography for evaluating stiffness of the human lens nucleus with aging: a feasibility study
Author:
Corresponding Author:

Hai-Yan Zhou. Department of Ophthalmology, Shaanxi Provincial People’s Hospital, Third Affiliated Hospital of the School of Medicine, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710068, Shaanxi Province, China. zhy2006614@163.com

Affiliation:

Clc Number:

Fund Project:

Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.81600720; No.81370997); Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province (No.2017JQ8012); Science and Technology Development Incubation Fund of Shaanxi Provincial People’s Hospital (No.2020YXM-09).

  • Article
  • |
  • Figures
  • |
  • Metrics
  • |
  • Reference
  • |
  • Related
  • |
  • Cited by
  • |
  • Materials
  • |
  • Comments
    Abstract:

    AIM: To investigate the significance of ultrasound elastography for evaluating stiffness of the human lens nucleus in volunteers with different ages. METHODS: A total of 90 volunteers (lens transparency, uncorrected visual acuity ≥0.5, intraocular pressure: 14-19 mm Hg) were divided into 3 groups according to age: Group A (30 people, median age: 82±3.5y, mean axial lengths 23.7±0.5 mm); Group B (30 people, median age: 46±2.1y, mean axial lengths 23.9±0.4 mm); and Group C (30 people, median age: 22±3.5y, mean axial lengths 24.0±0.4 mm). Lens nuclear stiffness was measured by Free-hand qualitative elastography by independent operators. Strain gray scale and color-coded elastography maps were recorded. In each case, three consecutive detections were performed and strain ratio was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Elastography analysis showed excellent diagnostic performance for lens sclerosis. Lens strain ratio was lowest (0.03±0.01)% in Group A and highest (2.03±0.43)% in Group C. Lens strain ratio was moderate (0.64±0.10)% in Group B. There were significant differences between these three groups (P<0.05). The lens nucleus strain rate changes with age. With aging, the lens nucleus strain rate and resilience decrease, demonstrating harder texture. CONCLUSION: The relationship between human lens stiffness and age is demonstrated by ultrasound elastography. Older age is associated with lower strain ratio and less resilience of the lens.

    Reference
    Related
    Cited by
Get Citation

Hai-Yan Zhou, Hong Yan, Wei-Jia Yan, et al. Ultrasound elastography for evaluating stiffness of the human lens nucleus with aging: a feasibility study. Int J Ophthalmol, 2021,14(2):240-244

Copy
Share
Article Metrics
  • Abstract:
  • PDF:
  • HTML:
  • Cited by:
Publication History
  • Received:November 07,2019
  • Revised:April 21,2020
  • Adopted:
  • Online: December 24,2020
  • Published: