Observations of tear film break up on model eyes

Models of the human eye's anterior surface were constructed from polymethylmethacrylate. Some models had a rigid gas permeable contact lens cemented to the corneal apex; others had strips of plastic or metal cemented at the location of the lids in the open human eye. When the level of water was lowered in the bath surrounding the upward-gazing eye model, tear film break up could be observed. Covering the model with mucin (from saliva) changed the pattern of tear film break up. On the mucin-covered model eye, the tear film break up resembled break up observed in the human eye. These studies on model eyes suggest that tear film break up occurs when tension in the tear film becomes greater than the tensile strength of the film. The mucin layer reduces the thickness of the tear film at break up and the thickness of the retreating film.