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Showing posts with label TEAR FILM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TEAR FILM. Show all posts

Friday, March 2, 2012

Structure of tear film


Wolff was the first to describe the detailed structure of the fluid covering the cornea and called it precorneal film. He described this film to consist of three layers, which from posterior to anterior are mucus layer, aqueous layer and lipid or oily layer.


1. Mucus layer. It is the innermost and thinnest stratum of the tear film. It consists of mucin secreted by conjunctival goblet cells and glands of Manz. It converts the hydrophobic corneal surface into hydrophilic one.
2. Aqueous layer. The bulk of tear film is formed by this intermediate layer which consists of tears secreted by the main and  accessory lacrimal glands. The tears mainly comprise of water and