In-vitro evaluation of the evaporation retardation by Meibomian lipids in homogeneous and non-homogeneous evaporation.

Hypothesis: An important function of the Tear Film Lipid Layer (TFLL) is the retardation of evaporation. We propose two micro-scaled systems to quantify the influence of the TFLL in evaporation for single patients, which may contribute as an improvement on the diagnosis of Meibomian Gland Dysfunctions (MGD).

Experiments: Meibum was extracted from 10 patients with hypersecretory MGD and 9 healthy controls.