PURPOSE: To determine the contribution of evaporation to the thinning of the precorneal tear film between blinks. METHODS: The rate of tear film thinning after a blink was measured using spectral interferometry from the right eyes of 37 subjects. Data were obtained under two different conditions: free air and air-tight goggles. RESULTS: The mean (±SD) tear film thinning rates for subjects was 3.22 ± 4.27 μm/min in free air and -0.16 ± 1.78 μm/min (i.e., a slight but not significant thickening) for the same subjects wearing air-tight goggles; this reduction in thinning rates was significant (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The large reduction in thinning rate caused by wearing goggles indicates that evaporation is the major cause of thinning between blinks. The mean thinning rate in free air is greater than reported evaporation rates; it is argued that the preocular chambers used in evaporimeters restrict movement of air over the tear film and reduce evaporation compared to our free air condition.
PURPOSE: To determine the contribution of evaporation to the thinning of the precorneal tear film between blinks. METHODS: The rate of tear film thinning after a blink was measured using spectral interferometry from the right eyes of 37 subjects. Data were obtained under two different conditions: free air and air-tight goggles. RESULTS: The mean (±SD) tear film thinning rates for subjects was 3.22 ± 4.27 μm/min in free air and -0.16 ± 1.78 μm/min (i.e., a slight but not significant thickening) for the same subjects wearing air-tight goggles; this reduction in thinning rates was significant (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The large reduction in thinning rate caused by wearing goggles indicates that evaporation is the major cause of thinning between blinks. The mean thinning rate in free air is greater than reported evaporation rates; it is argued that the preocular chambers used in evaporimeters restrict movement of air over the tear film and reduce evaporation compared to our free air condition.
Authors: P Ewen King-Smith; Barbara A Fink; Jason J Nichols; Kelly K Nichols; Richard J Braun; Geoffrey B McFadden Journal: Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci Date: 2009-02-14 Impact factor: 4.799
Authors: P Ewen King-Smith; Jason J Nichols; Kelly K Nichols; Barbara A Fink; Richard J Braun Journal: Optom Vis Sci Date: 2008-08 Impact factor: 1.973
Authors: Daniel Tzong-Shyue Liu; Mario A Di Pascuale; Junki Sawai; Ying-Ying Gao; Scheffer C G Tseng Journal: Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci Date: 2005-04 Impact factor: 4.799
Authors: Jason J Nichols; P Ewen King-Smith; Erich A Hinel; Miru Thangavelu; Kelly K Nichols Journal: Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci Date: 2012-08-20 Impact factor: 4.799
Authors: P Ewen King-Smith; Kathleen S Reuter; Richard J Braun; Jason J Nichols; Kelly K Nichols Journal: Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci Date: 2013-07-22 Impact factor: 4.799
Authors: Alan Tomlinson; Anthony J Bron; Donald R Korb; Shiro Amano; Jerry R Paugh; E Ian Pearce; Richard Yee; Norihiko Yokoi; Reiko Arita; Murat Dogru Journal: Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci Date: 2011-03-30 Impact factor: 4.799
Authors: Carlos Belmonte; Jason J Nichols; Stephanie M Cox; James A Brock; Carolyn G Begley; David A Bereiter; Darlene A Dartt; Anat Galor; Pedram Hamrah; Jason J Ivanusic; Deborah S Jacobs; Nancy A McNamara; Mark I Rosenblatt; Fiona Stapleton; James S Wolffsohn Journal: Ocul Surf Date: 2017-07-20 Impact factor: 5.033
Authors: Mark D P Willcox; Pablo Argüeso; Georgi A Georgiev; Juha M Holopainen; Gordon W Laurie; Tom J Millar; Eric B Papas; Jannick P Rolland; Tannin A Schmidt; Ulrike Stahl; Tatiana Suarez; Lakshman N Subbaraman; Omür Ö Uçakhan; Lyndon Jones Journal: Ocul Surf Date: 2017-07-20 Impact factor: 5.033