Stratification of Tear Components During Tear Microdesiccation on Vertical Glass Surfaces: A Novel Approach in Tear Fluid Assessment.

Purpose: Tear desiccation on a horizontal glass surface followed by low-resolution light microscopy has been used as an expeditious diagnostic aid to evaluate patients suspected of dry eye. The presence of fern-like crystalloids in the dry specimen is the only feature taken into consideration. We demonstrate that different morphological domains of tear microdesiccates can be separated based on distinctive physicochemical properties.