Tear-film breakup: The role of membrane-associated mucin polymers

Choudhury, Anjishnu and Dey, Mohar and Dixit, Harish N. and Feng, James J. (2021) Tear-film breakup: The role of membrane-associated mucin polymers. Physical Review E, 103 (1). ISSN 2470-0045

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Abstract

Mucin polymers in the tear film protect the corneal surface from pathogens and modulate the tear-film flow characteristics. Recent studies have suggested a relationship between the loss of membrane-associated mucins and premature rupture of the tear film in various eye diseases. This work aims to elucidate the hydrodynamic mechanisms by which loss of membrane-associated mucins causes premature tear-film rupture. We model the bulk of the tear film as a Newtonian fluid in a two-dimensional periodic domain, and the lipid layer at the air-tear interface as insoluble surfactants. Gradual loss of membrane-associated mucins produces growing areas of exposed cornea in direct contact with the tear fluid. We represent the hydrodynamic consequences of this morphological change through two mechanisms: an increased van der Waals attraction due to loss of wettability on the exposed area, and a change of boundary condition from an effective negative slip on the mucin-covered areas to the no-slip condition on exposed cornea. Finite-element computations, with an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian scheme to handle the moving interface, demonstrate a strong effect of the elevated van der Waals attraction on precipitating tear-film breakup. The change in boundary condition on the cornea has a relatively minor role. Using realistic parameters, our heterogeneous mucin model is able to predict quantitatively the shortening of tear-film breakup time observed in diseased eyes.

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IITH Creators:
IITH CreatorsORCiD
Dixit, Harish NagarajUNSPECIFIED
Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian; Finite element computations; Insoluble surfactants; Morphological changes; Moving interface; No-slip condition; Tear film rupture; Van der Waals attraction
Subjects: Physics > Mechanical and aerospace
Others > Aerospace Technology
Divisions: Department of Biomedical Engineering
Depositing User: . LibTrainee 2021
Date Deposited: 02 Aug 2021 05:00
Last Modified: 08 Mar 2022 10:42
URI: http://raiith.iith.ac.in/id/eprint/8626
Publisher URL: http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.103.013108
OA policy: https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/31531
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