Bioengineer's Dry Eye Inspires Improvement in Contact Lenses

"After long hours of studying as a graduate student, Saad Bhamla’s eyes hurt. Contacts and intense visual focus just didn’t go together," notes Stanford Medicine's Scope blog. "He resolved to make contacts more comfortable and now, as a postdoctoral scholar in bioengineering with a PhD in chemical engineering, he’s taken a step to do just that. As reported in a Stanford News release:

"Bhamla and [chemical engineer Gerald Fuller, PhD,] suspected that most of the discomfort arises from the break up of the tear film, a wet coating on the surface of the eye, during a process called dewetting. [In a study,] they found that the lipid layer, an oily coating on the surface of the tear film, protects the eye’s surface in two important ways – through strength and liquid retention. By mimicking the lipid layer in contact construction, millions of people could avoid ocular discomfort.

"The engineers and their team then designed a device that mimics the surface of the eye." Read more.

After long hours of studying as a graduate student, Saad Bhamla’s eyes hurt. Contacts and intense visual focus just didn’t go together.
He resolved to make contacts more comfortable and now, as a postdoctoral scholar in bioengineering with a PhD in chemical engineering, he’s taken a step to do just that. As reported in a Stanford News release:

Bhamla and [chemical engineer Gerald Fuller, PhD,] suspected that most of the discomfort arises from the break up of the tear film, a wet coating on the surface of the eye, during a process called dewetting. [In a study,] they found that the lipid layer, an oily coating on the surface of the tear film, protects the eye’s surface in two important ways – through strength and liquid retention. By mimicking the lipid layer in contact construction, millions of people could avoid ocular discomfort.

The engineers and their team then designed a device that mimics the surface of the eye,
- See more at: http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2016/03/24/a-bioengineers-dry-eyes-spurred-a-hunt-for-ways-to-improve-contact-lenses/#sthash.zGhbLPCc.dpuf

After long hours of studying as a graduate student, Saad Bhamla’s eyes hurt. Contacts and intense visual focus just didn’t go together.
He resolved to make contacts more comfortable and now, as a postdoctoral scholar in bioengineering with a PhD in chemical engineering, he’s taken a step to do just that. As reported in a Stanford News release:

Bhamla and [chemical engineer Gerald Fuller, PhD,] suspected that most of the discomfort arises from the break up of the tear film, a wet coating on the surface of the eye, during a process called dewetting. [In a study,] they found that the lipid layer, an oily coating on the surface of the tear film, protects the eye’s surface in two important ways – through strength and liquid retention. By mimicking the lipid layer in contact construction, millions of people could avoid ocular discomfort.

The engineers and their team then designed a device that mimics the surface of the eye,
- See more at: http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2016/03/24/a-bioengineers-dry-eyes-spurred-a-hunt-for-ways-to-improve-contact-lenses/#sthash.zGhbLPCc.dpuf

After long hours of studying as a graduate student, Saad Bhamla’s eyes hurt. Contacts and intense visual focus just didn’t go together.
He resolved to make contacts more comfortable and now, as a postdoctoral scholar in bioengineering with a PhD in chemical engineering, he’s taken a step to do just that. As reported in a Stanford News release:

Bhamla and [chemical engineer Gerald Fuller, PhD,] suspected that most of the discomfort arises from the break up of the tear film, a wet coating on the surface of the eye, during a process called dewetting. [In a study,] they found that the lipid layer, an oily coating on the surface of the tear film, protects the eye’s surface in two important ways – through strength and liquid retention. By mimicking the lipid layer in contact construction, millions of people could avoid ocular discomfort.

The engineers and their team then designed a device that mimics the surface of the eye,
- See more at: http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2016/03/24/a-bioengineers-dry-eyes-spurred-a-hunt-for-ways-to-improve-contact-lenses/#sthash.zGhbLPCc.dpuf

After long hours of studying as a graduate student, Saad Bhamla’s eyes hurt. Contacts and intense visual focus just didn’t go together.
He resolved to make contacts more comfortable and now, as a postdoctoral scholar in bioengineering with a PhD in chemical engineering, he’s taken a step to do just that. As reported in a Stanford News release:

Bhamla and [chemical engineer Gerald Fuller, PhD,] suspected that most of the discomfort arises from the break up of the tear film, a wet coating on the surface of the eye, during a process called dewetting. [In a study,] they found that the lipid layer, an oily coating on the surface of the tear film, protects the eye’s surface in two important ways – through strength and liquid retention. By mimicking the lipid layer in contact construction, millions of people could avoid ocular discomfort.

The engineers and their team then designed a device that mimics the surface of the eye,
- See more at: http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2016/03/24/a-bioengineers-dry-eyes-spurred-a-hunt-for-ways-to-improve-contact-lenses/#sthash.zGhbLPCc.dpuf