Corneal swelling and oxygen flux through a soft contact lens.
After reviewing the oxygen needs of the cornea, we calculate the increase in corneal swelling which is predicted to occur for oxygen flux through a contact lens at the rate of less than 1.5 microliters/cm(2)/hr. The amount of corneal swelling is inversely related to the oxygen flux into the anterior corneal surface. To keep corneal swelling below 4% requires a oxygen tension of about 11 mm Hg which is equivalent to a flux of 2 microliters/cm(2)/hr.
D003263:Contact Lenses, Hydrophilic / Q000592:standards*; D003315:Cornea / Q000502:physiology*; D003316:Corneal Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology; D004487:Edema / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D010539:Permeability