This study conducts research on the viscoelastic properties of biological fluids, including both hyaluronic acid-containing lubricating eye drops and human tears, by means of passive microrheology. By tracking the Brownian motion of tracer particles of various sizes in the fluids, we were able to probe their viscoelastic properties. The results showed that the viscoelastic properties of artificial tears, such as Newtonian viscosity and relaxation time, scale to the concentration and macromolecular size of hyaluronic acid, resembling unentangled semidiluted solutions. Moreover, human tears were found to have a viscosity that is 50% greater than that of pure water, comparable to artificial tears containing 0.1% hyaluronic acid, but with a relaxation time one order of magnitude longer than ophthalmic solutions. This behavior was attributed to their intricate composition. The distinctive aspect of this study lies in demonstrating the feasibility of measuring the rheological properties of human tears, a biofluid of great interest, using extremely small sample volumes and microrheology, providing comprehensive information across a wide range of frequencies approaching those corresponding to blinking upon the application of the Cox–Merz rule. These findings are of significant value as they pave the way for future research on small volumes of tears from ophthalmic patients.
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July 2023
Research Article|
July 11 2023
Shedding light on the viscoelastic behavior of artificial and human tears: A microrheological approach
Special Collection:
Flow and the Eye
Juan F. Vega
;
Juan F. Vega
a)
(Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing)
1
BIOPHYM, Department of Macromolecular Physics, Instituto de Estructura de la Materia (IEM-CSIC)
, c/Serrano 113bis, 28006 Madrid, Spain
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: jf.vega@csic.es
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Mercedes Fernández
;
Mercedes Fernández
(Data curation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing)
2
POLYMAT and Department of Polymers and Advanced Materials: Physics, Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU
, Paseo Manuel de Lardizabal, 3, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
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Andrés Cardil
;
Andrés Cardil
(Data curation, Methodology)
1
BIOPHYM, Department of Macromolecular Physics, Instituto de Estructura de la Materia (IEM-CSIC)
, c/Serrano 113bis, 28006 Madrid, Spain
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Itxaso Calafel
;
Itxaso Calafel
(Data curation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing)
2
POLYMAT and Department of Polymers and Advanced Materials: Physics, Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU
, Paseo Manuel de Lardizabal, 3, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
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Itziar Martínez-Soroa
;
Itziar Martínez-Soroa
(Data curation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing)
3
Miranza Begitek Clinic
, Plaza Teresa de Calcuta 7, 20012 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
4
Donostia University Hospital
, Paseo Dr. Beguiristain s/n, 20014 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
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Ane Pérez Sarriegui
;
Ane Pérez Sarriegui
(Data curation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing)
3
Miranza Begitek Clinic
, Plaza Teresa de Calcuta 7, 20012 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
4
Donostia University Hospital
, Paseo Dr. Beguiristain s/n, 20014 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
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Arantxa Acera
Arantxa Acera
b)
(Conceptualization, Investigation, Writing – review & editing)
5
Department of Cell Biology and Histology, Experimental Ophthalmo-Biology Group (GOBE), University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU
, Leioa 48940, Spain
6
Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science
, Bilbao 48001, Spain
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a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: jf.vega@csic.es
b)
URL: www.ehu.eus/gobe.
Note: This paper is part of the special topic, Flow and the Eye.
Physics of Fluids 35, 072008 (2023)
Article history
Received:
March 30 2023
Accepted:
May 18 2023
Citation
Juan F. Vega, Mercedes Fernández, Andrés Cardil, Itxaso Calafel, Itziar Martínez-Soroa, Ane Pérez Sarriegui, Arantxa Acera; Shedding light on the viscoelastic behavior of artificial and human tears: A microrheological approach. Physics of Fluids 1 July 2023; 35 (7): 072008. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0152482
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