Silicone hydrogel lens with a crosslinked hydrophilic coating

摘要

The invention is related to a cost-effective method for making a silicone hydrogel contact lens having a crosslinked hydrophilic coating thereon. A method of the invention involves autoclaving, in a sealed lens package, a silicone hydrogel contact lens having a base coating of polyacrylic acid thereon in an aqueous solution in the presence of a water-soluble, crosslinkable hydrophilic polymeric material having epoxide groups, for a period of time sufficient to covalently attach the crosslinkable hydrophilic polymeric material onto the surface of the silicone hydrogel contact lens through covalent linkages each formed between one epoxide group and one of the carboxyl groups on and/or near the surface of the silicone hydrogel contact lens.

主权项

1. A method for producing silicone hydrogel contact lenses each having a crosslinked hydrophilic coating thereon, comprising the steps of:
(a) obtaining a silicone hydrogel contact lens; (b) applying a layer of carboxyl-containing polymeric material onto the silicone hydrogel contact lens; (c) placing the silicone hydrogel contact lens with the layer of carboxyl-containing polymeric material thereon into a lens package containing a packaging solution, wherein the packaging solution comprises from about 0.01% to about 2% by weight of one or more crosslinkable hydrophilic polymeric materials selected from the group consisting of (i) a water-soluble hydrophilic polymer polymeric material having epoxide groups, wherein the hydrophilic polymeric material is partial reaction product of a first multi-arm polyethyleneglycol having terminal epoxide groups and a first hydrophilicity-enhancing agent having at least one reactive functional group selected from the group consisting of amino group, carboxyl group, hydroxyl group, thiol group, and combination thereof, (ii) a second multi-arm polyethyleneglycol having terminal epoxide groups, (iii) a mixture of a third multi-arm polyethyleneglycol having terminal epoxide groups and a second hydrophilicity-enhancing agent having at least one reactive functional group selected from the group consisting of amino group, carboxyl group, hydroxyl group, thiol group, and combination thereof, and (iv) a combination thereof; (d) sealing the package; (e) autoclaving the sealed package with the silicone hydrogel contact lens therein at a temperature from about 115° C. to about 125° C. for at least about twenty minutes, thereby forming a non-silicone hydrogel coating on the silicone hydrogel contact lens, wherein the non-silicone hydrogel coating is a crosslinked polymeric material composed of the carboxyl-containing polymeric material crosslinked with the one or more crosslinkable material.