ReviewThe ocular surface2018
Mechanisms, imaging and structure of tear film breakup.
Review in The ocular surface, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Bridging the gap in managing dry eye disease: a consensus report by the Taiwan society of cataract and refractive surgeons.BMC ophthalmology · 2024Guideline
- Pooled it
- Reliability and efficacy of maximum fluorescein tear break-up time in diagnosing dry eye disease.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Analytical Performance, Spatial Dynamics and Clinically Meaningful Change Thresholds for Automated Non-invasive Tear Film Assessment Using the Oculus Keratograph 5M.Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists) · 2026Article
- Tear Film Imager Findings Support a New Perspective on the Mechanisms of Tear Film Thinning in Healthy Subjects.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2026Article
- Comparison of Corneal Epithelial Thickness Profiles Between Aqueous-Deficient and Evaporative Dry Eye Disease.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- How best to measure tear film formation: an opinion.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Article
- Ocular surface homeostasis instability in acoustic neuroma: corneal nerve density reduction and blink reflex abnormalities.Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology = Albrecht von Graefes Archiv fur klinische und experimentelle Ophthalmologie · 2025Observational
- Comparative Efficacy of Platelet-Rich Plasma, Autologous Serum, and Artificial Tears in Dry Eye Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Biomedicines · 2025Review
- Elucidating the roles of electrolytes and hydrogen bonding in the dewetting dynamics of the tear film.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- High Resolution Images of Human Meibum Spread on Saline.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2024Article
- Review
- Effect of Model Tear Film Lipid Layer on Water Evaporation.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2023Article
- Rear 4-min Schirmer test, a modified indicator of Schirmer test in diagnosing dry eye.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Characterization of the thickness of the Tear Film Lipid Layer in Meibomian Gland Dysfunction using high resolution optical microscopy.The ocular surface · 2022Article
- Analysis of the first tear film break-up point in Sjögren's syndrome and non-Sjögren's syndrome dry eye patients.BMC ophthalmology · 2022Article
- Current Developments in Corneal Topography and Tomography.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Smart Eye Camera: A Validation Study for Evaluating the Tear Film Breakup Time in Human Subjects.Translational vision science & technology · 2021Article
- The Association between Tear Film Thickness as Measured with OCT and Symptoms and Signs of Dry Eye Disease: A Pooled Analysis of 6 Clinical Trials.Journal of clinical medicine · 2020Article
- Fluorescent contact lens for continuous non-invasive measurements of sodium and chloride ion concentrations in tears.Analytical biochemistry · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Tear film breakup (BU) is an important aspect of dry eye disease, as a cause of ocular aberrations, irritation and ocular surface inflammation and disorder. Additionally, measurement of breakup time (BUT) is a common clinical test for dry eye. The current definition of BUT is subjective; here, a more objective concept of "touchdown" - the moment when the lipid layer touches down on the corneal surface - is proposed as an aid to understanding processes in early and late stages of BU development. Models of BU have generally been based on the assumption that a single mechanism is involved. In this review, it is emphasized that BU does not have a single explanation but it is the end result of multiple processes. A three-way classification of BU is proposed - "immediate," "lid-associated," and "evaporative." Five different types of imaging systems are described, which have been used to help elucidate the processes involved in BU and BUT; a new method, "high resolution chromaticity images," is presented. Three directions of tear flow - evaporation, osmotic flow out of the ocular surface, and "tangential flow" along the ocular surface - determine tear film thinning between blinks, leading to BU. Ten factors involved in BU and BUT, both before and after touchdown, are discussed. Future directions of research on BU are proposed.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.