POLY 29 |
| J. F. Kunzler and J.C. Salamone. Research Development & Engineering, Bausch & Lomb, 1400 N. Goodman St. PO Box 450, Rochester, NY 14603-0450 |
| The correction of vision using contact lenses has grown into a billion dollar industry over the past 40 years. Starting out with small made-to-order laboratories in the 1950s, the contact lens industry has increased several fold in volume with lenses now mass produced using automated manufacturing processes. For the past thirty years the contact lens industry has been engaged in the development of the ultimate extended wear contact lens. This has not been a trivial task. The material must possess chemical and thermal stability, biocompatibility and be wettable by tears. The material must also be permeable to oxygen. Due to a lack of blood vessels within the central corneal framework, most of the cornea obtains oxygen directly from the atmosphere. One approach to design extended wear lenses is based on high water content hydrogels. Three additional approaches consist of the development of materials based on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). This includes the design of rigid gas permeable silicone based lenses, low modulus PDMS based elastomers and low modulus silicone hydrogels. This presentation will review current contact lens material technology and provide an update on the extended wear lens design approaches. |
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The Polymer Science of Everyday Things
8:30 AM-12:30 PM, Sunday, March 23, 2003 Hilton Riverside -- Grand Salon B9/B12, Oral
Division of Polymer Chemistry |