Determination of loss tangent of human tear film at 9.8 GHz

• Main Authors: Bansal Namita, Dhaliwal, A S, Mann, K S
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biological effects; Blinking; Conjunctiva; Epithelium; Error analysis; Eye movements; Lipids; Lysozyme; Microwave frequencies; Perturbation methods; Protective coatings; Tearing
• ISSN: 0094-243X; 1551-7616
• DOI: 10.1063/1.4929297

Basal (non-stimulated) tears that are produced by accessory lacrimal glands located in conjunctiva of human eye, form tear film which in turn keeps the eye moist and lubricate; nourishes the eye; protects the eye from dust, bacterial infection and shear forces generated during eye movements and blinking; and provides a refractive surface on the corneal epithelium. Film is known to contain water, mucin, lipids, lysozyme, glucose, urea, sodium etc. In present communication, loss tangent of human tear film has been determined at 9.8 GHz microwaves by employing cavity perturbation technique at a temperature of 37°C. The basal tears from a small population comprising six subjects were collected and average value of loss tangent is reported. Slater’s technique was used to reduce the error caused in measuring the volume of sample. The determined values are useful to study the biological effects of microwaves on tear film as well as other parts of human eye such as eye lens and lens epithelial cells. To the best of author’s knowledge, no such study is available in literature at any radio as well as microwave frequencies; therefore present determinations are first of its kind.