Modelling drainage of the precorneal tear film after a blink
Date
2002
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Department of Mathematical Sciences
Abstract
We study the drainage of the precorneal tear lm in humans. A uid
dynamic model for the drainage of the aqueous layer is developed that
includes the effects of evaporation and gravity. The model may be reduced
to a single nonlinear partial differential equation for the thickness of the
aqueous layer. The equation is solved numerically and accurate times for
film rupture are obtained for physically realistic parameters. The results
indicate that though gravity and evaporation are not the most dominant
effects in some parts of the film, they can nevertheless materially affect
the film drainage process and should therefore be included in models for
tear film drainage.