Sterilization of intraocular lenses

摘要

A packaged, sterilized intraocular lens prepared by a process comprising providing a hydrophobic acrylic, or low water acrylic, intraocular lens and positioning the acrylic lens in a lens enclosure with an aqueous solution to provide a lens package. The lens package is then heated to a temperature sufficient for sterilization, however, the heating of the lens package must begin before the acrylic lens reaches an equilibrated, hydrated state following contact of the lens with the aqueous solution. The resulting sterilized acrylic intraocular lens will have less than sixty percent of total volume of disc-like features, or less than forty percent of total volume of water vacuoles, after 60 days following sterilization compared to an acrylic lens of the same composition, which was sterilized under the same conditions, but in an equilibrated, hydrated state.

主权项

1. A sterilized intraocular lens prepared by a process comprising:
providing a hydrophobic acrylic, or low water acrylic, intraocular lens and positioning the acrylic lens in a lens enclosure with an aqueous solution to provide a lens package; and heating the lens package to a temperature sufficient for sterilization, wherein the heating of the lens package must begin before the acrylic lens reaches an equilibrated, hydrated state following contact of the lens with the aqueous solution, said sterilized intraocular lens to have less than sixty percent of total volume of disc-like features after 60 days following sterilization compared to an acrylic lens of the same composition that was sterilized under the same conditions, but in an equilibrated, hydrated state.