title: Oxygen permeability of hydrogel contact lenses with organosilicon moieties.
abstract: Oxygen transport through two extended wear (day and night) hydrogel contact lenses that contain organosilicon moieties (balafilcon A and lotrafilcon A) was studied in the hydrate (hydrogel) and dry (xerogel) states. The water uptake increased the oxygen permeability [(Dk)app] and transmissibility [Dk/L(av)] coefficients of the dry materials by about 70%. The (Dk)app for the hydrated lenses was determined following the so-called stack procedure. The values obtained were 107 +/- 4 barrer for balafilcon A and 141 +/- 5 barrer for lotrafilcon A, about 5-10 times larger than those previously reported for conventional (without organosilicon moieties) extended wear hydrogels contact lenses. The Dk/L(av) for -3.00 diopter lenses (harmonic average thickness, L(av) = 75 +/- 2 microm for lotrafilcon, and 85 +/- 2 microm for balafilcon) was 123 +/- 6 barrer/cm for balafilcon A and 183 +/- 8 barrer/cm for lotralicon A. The minimum oxygen transmissibility 87 barrer/cm stipulated by Holden and Mertz to avoid corneal edema with extended wear contact can be easily achieved with lotrafilcon and balafilcon lenses of diverse dioptric powers if the central and peripheral thickness of the lenses are kept below the critical level of oxygen transmissibility.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Termodinámica de la Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Spain. company@exp.uji.es
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Compañ
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Andrio
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: López-Alemany
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Riande
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Refojo
mesh_terms: D003263:Contact Lenses, Hydrophilic; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate / Q000737:chemistry*; D008422:Materials Testing; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D017646:Organosilicon Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism*; D010539:Permeability; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D017646:Organosilicon Compounds; D014867:Water; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate; D010100:Oxygen