Oxygen permeable contact lens structures for thick payloads
AssigneeTectus Corporation
InventorEric Anthony Perozziello
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Abstract
A variable geometry contact lens structure having a thickness t sufficient to carry an active payload is constructed using layers of materials with high oxygen transmissibility and low oxygen transmissibility. The low transmissibility layer provide mechanical support for the active payload, and the high transmissibility layers provide adequate oxygen transmission to the cornea of the user's eye. The ratio of the thicknesses of the two layers changes abruptly at the boundaries between the payload and non-payload regions of the structure. For example, at a boundary of the payload region, a ratio of thicknesses of the high transmissibility layer t1 to thickness of the low transmissibility layer t2, R=t1/t2, changes by at least 2:1 over a lateral distance of not more than t.
Claims20
A contact lens structure having a maximum thickness t, comprising:
- in an optical zone of the contact lens:
- a first layer characterized by an oxygen transmissibility Dk1 that would be high enough to provide sufficient oxygen to the cornea if the first layer had a thickness t1=t;
- a second layer that provides mechanical support for a payload, the second layer characterized by an oxygen transmissibility Dk2 that would not be high enough to provide sufficient oxygen to the cornea if the second layer had a thickness t2=t;
- a payload region disposed between the first and second layers, the payload region configured to contain the payload;
- and
- where, at a boundary of the payload region, a ratio of thicknesses of the first layer to the second layer, R=t1/t2, changes by at least 2:1 over a lateral distance of not more than t.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.