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Heat and Mass Transfer Processes in the Eye

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Handbook of Thermal Science and Engineering

Abstract

Heat and mass transport processes in humans occur at cellular, tissue, organ, and whole-body levels. The subfield of heat and mass transfer in the human eye provides the context for understanding the functions of the eye and to develop protective, diagnostic, and therapeutic processes. The eye is sensitive to the environment because of the absence of blood flow through parts such as cornea and lens, and the absence of thermal sensors and protective reflexes beyond blinking. Heat transfer processes in the eye comprise the continuous evaporation of the tear layer coating the corneal region of a normal eye, the thermal massage across the pupils called the transpupillary thermotherapy (TTT), and the several methods of internal tissue ablation involving lasers. Drug delivery inside the eye is an important man-made mass transfer process that includes the intravitreous and transscleral routes to medicate the retina. This chapter focuses on the exposition of heat transfer processes that drive laser surgical methods and the mass transfer processes that govern drug delivery methods to the retina. In a bridging section, discussion on the combined heat and mass transfer processes involved in the TTT-based convection-assisted drug diffusion to the retina through the vitreous humor is also provided.

This life’s dim windows of the soul

Distorts the heavens from pole to pole

And leads you to believe a lie

When you see with, not through, the eye.

― William Blake

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Heat Transfer and Thermal Power Laboratory, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, 600036, Chennai, India

    Arunn Narasimhan

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  1. Arunn Narasimhan
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Correspondence to Arunn Narasimhan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

    Francis A. Kulacki

Section Editor information

  1. Politecnica/COPPE, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro,, Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, Brazil

    Renato Cotta

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Riverside, California, USA

    Kambiz Vafai

  3. Herff College of Engineering, The University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

    Sumanta Acharya

  4. Gas Technology Institute, Illinois, Illinois, USA

    Yaroslav Chudnovsky

  5. Rm 8260, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Javad Mostaghimi

  6. Cekmeköy Campus, Özyegin University, Çekmeköy - Istanbul, Turkey

    Pinar Mengüc

  7. Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Vijay K. Dhir

  8. Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

    Ram Devireddy

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Narasimhan, A. (2017). Heat and Mass Transfer Processes in the Eye. In: Kulacki, F. (eds) Handbook of Thermal Science and Engineering. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32003-8_72-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32003-8_72-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-32003-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-32003-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EngineeringReference Module Computer Science and Engineering

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Heat and Mass Transfer Processes in the Eye
    Published:
    24 August 2017

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32003-8_72-2

  2. Original

    Heat and Mass Transfer Processes in the Eye
    Published:
    03 July 2017

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32003-8_72-1

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