Abstract: Objective To evaluate the clinical use of noninvasive ocular surface analyzer in checking the ocular surface of dry eye disease (DED) patients. Methods A total of 100 eyes were covered in this study, in which 50 eyes were from DED patients (named DED group) and 50 eyes were from healthy volunteers(named control group). All subjects completed following examinations and tests: detailed medical history, ocular surface disease index (OSDI) questionnaire, the first noninvasive tear breakup time(NIBUTf) and morphological characteristics of meibomian glands examined by a noninvasive ocular surface analyzer, tear breakup time by fluorescein (FBUT),corneal fluorescein staining (CFS),the eyelid, and ocular surface organization checked by the slit lamp micros-cope. Results Compared with the control group, OSDI score of DED group was significantly higher (P＜0.01). NIBUTf had a positive correlation with FBUT(P＜0.01). The NIBUTf and FBUT were shorter, while the scores of meibomian gland loss (MGL) and CFS were higher in DED group (all P＜0.01). NIBUTf had a negative correlation with MGL score and OSDI score (all P＜0.01). All subjects accepted the examinations with signed the informed consent form, and the same examination was performed by the same inspector. Conclusions The non-inva- sive ocular surface analyzer may detect the tear film stability and meibomian gland loss by a non-contact way, and it has important clinical potential to evaluate the ocular surface of dry eye patients objectively.

Key words: ocular surface, dry eye disease, tear film, meibomian gland