The integrity and stability of tear film are critical to maintain a high quality of vision and good ocular comfort. Dry eye(1) and tear film disorders are the most common multifactorial ocular diseases present in 14-33% of the adult population(2). Dry eye physiologically increases with age, particularly in women and in patients with diseases such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and autoimmune diseases.
It is claimed that 20-50%(3) of contact lens wearers complain ocular dryness. These patients experience occasional or chronic adverse symptoms such as: soreness, grittiness, scratchiness and burning eye. These symptoms can reduce contact lens’ wearing time and cause drop out which is supposed to afflict the 12-51%(4) of contact lens wearers.
The tear film is the first refractive surface of the eye with a thickness from 4 to 9 µm. With EASYTEAR®view+ is easily visualize in vivo the interference fringes of the lipid layer in tear film. The color changes with the thickness of Lipid layer from 30 to 180 nm.
- 1. Definition and Classification of Dry Eye. Report of the Diagnosis and Classification Subcommittee of the Dry Eye WorkShop (DEWS). Ocul Surf 2007;5:75-92.
- 2 Schaumberg, D.A., Sullivan, D.A., Buring, J.E., Dana, M.R.. Prevalence of dry eye syndrome among US women. Am. J. Ophthalmol. 2003 136, 318–326.
- 3 Doughty MJ, Fonn D, Richter D, Simpson T, Caffery B, Gordon K. A patient questionnaire approach to estimating the prevalence of dry eye symptoms in patients presenting to optometric practices across Canada. Optom Vis Sci 1997;74:624-31)
- 4 Dumbleton K, Woods CA, Jones LW, Fonn D. The impact of contemporary contact lenses on contact lens discontinuation. Eye Contact Lens. 2013;39:92–98.
- 5 Papagni A; Fonte R; Benzoni L; Pre-lens tear film evaluation scale: a tool for analyzing the tear film-lens interaction with respect to the material used; Optometry Reports. 2012;1: 31-36