Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 27, 2026
Development of an In Vitro Ocular Platform to Test Contact Lenses
Published on: April 6, 2016
A fully human in vitro capsular bag model to permit intraocular lens evaluation
Lucy J Dawes1, Christopher D Illingworth, I Michael Wormstone
1School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom.
Purpose:
To establish a fully human in vitro culture model with which to test the putative effects of intraocular lens (IOL) designs in preventing posterior capsule opacification (PCO) after cataract surgery.
Methods:
A sham cataract operation was performed to prepare human capsular bags from donor lenses. In one capsular bag of a donor pair, an intraocular lens (PMMA round-edge IOL or acrylic IOL) was implanted while the other capsular bag remained aphakic. Bags were transferred to a Petri dish and secured anterior-face down using entomological pins. Capsular bags were maintained in Eagle's minimum essential medium supplemented with 2% human serum and 10 ng/mL TGF-β to drive growth and matrix contraction.
Results:
In the absence of an IOL, cells appeared within the central posterior capsule at 4.38 ± 0.26 days, whereas in the presence of a PMMA round-edge IOL or an acrylic IOL they appeared at 8 ± 0.41 days and 11 ± 0.7 days, respectively. Immunocytochemical analysis showed an accumulation of cells at the edge of the acrylic IOL and a less evident accumulation with the PMMA round-edge IOL. Moreover, matrix contraction was more prominent in the absence of an IOL but was still apparent, to a lesser degree, in the presence of a PMMA round-edge IOL. The acrylic IOL greatly suppressed matrix contraction.
Conclusions:
The authors have developed a fully human in vitro capsular bag system that relates well to clinical observations and permits the testing of novel intraocular lenses.
