Kaercher T, Möbius D, Welt R
Augenklinik Ludwigshafen, Germany.
Int Ophthalmol. 1994;18(1):15-9. doi: 10.1007/BF00919408.
Infants have been known occasionally to stare without blinking for almost a minute. This puts great demands on the stability of their tear-film. To verify the stability of infant tears, we performed biophysical experiments on Meibomian gland secretion, which forms the outermost layer of the tear-film. The secretion was taken from infants belonging to one of three age-groups (1.5 years, 4-5 years, 7-10 years). Under in vitro conditions we determined the surface pressure and the surface potential of the film by spreading the secretion over a water surface and subsequently compressing and decompressing it. Sufficient amounts of Meibomian gland secretion were expressed in all age-groups. The surface pressure and the surface potential of the tears in infants corresponded to those in healthy adults. It was also found that the younger the patient was, the better was the consistency of the surface potential under repeated periods of compression and expansion. In comparison with the secretion of healthy adults, the infant Meibomian gland secretion showed better biophysical characteristics and a correspondingly higher stability in the tear-film.
众所周知，婴儿偶尔会目不转睛地盯着看将近一分钟。这对他们泪膜的稳定性提出了很高的要求。为了验证婴儿眼泪的稳定性，我们对睑板腺分泌物进行了生物物理实验，睑板腺分泌物形成泪膜的最外层。分泌物取自三个年龄组（1.5岁、4 - 5岁、7 - 10岁）之一的婴儿。在体外条件下，我们通过将分泌物铺展在水面上，然后对其进行压缩和减压，来测定泪膜的表面压力和表面电位。所有年龄组都能挤出足够量的睑板腺分泌物。婴儿眼泪的表面压力和表面电位与健康成年人的相当。还发现患者年龄越小，在反复压缩和扩张期间表面电位的一致性越好。与健康成年人的分泌物相比，婴儿睑板腺分泌物表现出更好的生物物理特性，在泪膜中的稳定性相应更高。
