Implications of the alpha dispersion for studies on interaction of tobacco smoke – Corneal tissue

In this work, we have carried out a dielectric study to determine the effect of tobacco smoke on the rat corneal function. Measurements were performed over the frequency range of 500 Hz–100 kHz in air and at the temperature of 35 °C. The frequency dependencies of the loss tangent for both healthy and smoky cornea exhibit two peaks with different width occurring as a narrow at 2 kHz and a broad at around 16 kHz. The distribution parameter α at 2 kHz has a value of about 0.3, which increases to 0.6 at 16 kHz. The magnitude of the permittivity decrement at 2 and 16 kHz is about two and four times higher, respectively, for the smoky cornea than that for the healthy one. These dielectric studies indicate that the present method is useful in detection of the effect of tobacco smoke exposure on the corneal behavior.

Graphical abstractThe variation of tan δ versus frequency for the wet (♦: healthy; ▴: smoky) and dry (♢: healthy; □: smoky) cornea. f1 and f2 are the relaxation frequencies.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slideHighlights► We report the effect of tobacco smoke on dielectric behavior of rat cornea. ► Measurements were performed in the α-dispersion region at 35 °C. ► Experimental data are described by the Cole-Cole relation. ► Loss tangent is higher for smoky cornea than for healthy one.