抄録
To determine the influence of the angle of holding an eye medication container on the squeezing force needed for each drop of the medication and drop volume, we measured squeezing force and drop weight using a force gauge for 11 prod ucts commercially available in Japan, at 3 different angles to the horizontal surface-90°, 60° and 45°. At 90°, the squeezing force for each drop varied from 0.770kg (Tobracin®) to 1.575kg (Timoptol® 0.25%) and at 60° and 45°, the squeezing force decreased for all products except KetasR. Thus the squeezing force was affected by the angle of holding the container. At 90°, drop weight varied from 33mg (Ketas®) to 44mg (Tobracin®). At 60° and 45°, drop weight decreased for all products except Hyalein® 0.1, Kary Uni® and Sanpilo® 2% (tip and cap type). These results show that the angle of holding an eye medication container is an important factor because of the influence it has on drop size and squeezing force. For this reason, the optimal angle for patients to hold eye medication containers should be investigated in greater depth.
