title: Hydrogels in ophthalmic applications.
abstract: More and more people worldwide are affected by severe eye diseases eventually leading to visual impairment or blindness. In most cases, the treatment involves the application of ophthalmic dosage forms such as eye drops, suspensions or ointments. Unfortunately, some of the therapeutic approaches have major shortcomings, especially in the treatment of the posterior segment of the eye, where many vision-threatening diseases originate. Therefore, research focuses on the development of new materials (e.g., for vitreous substitution) and more advanced drug delivery systems. Hydrogels are an extremely versatile class of materials with many potential applications in ophthalmology. They found widespread application as soft contact lenses, foldable intraocular lenses, in situ gelling formulations for ophthalmic drug delivery and ocular adhesives for wound repair; their use as vitreous substitutes and intravitreal drug delivery systems is currently under investigation. In this article, we review the different applications of hydrogels in ophthalmology with special emphasis placed on the used polymers and their suitability as ocular drug delivery systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kirchhof
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Achim M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Goepferich
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany. Electronic address: ferdinand.brandl@ur.de.
authors.forename: Ferdinand P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Brandl
mesh_terms: D060433:Administration, Ophthalmic; D000818:Animals; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D015195:Drug Design; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D020100:Hydrogels; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000008:administration & dosage; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D020100:Hydrogels; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D011108:Polymers
keywords: Contact lenses; Drug delivery; Hydrogels; Intraocular lenses; Ophthalmology; Polymers; Tissue engineering; Vitreous substitutes