Hydrophilic, soft and oxygen permeable copolymer compositions

A composition of matter specially adapted for use as a prosthetic device having the characteristics of increased hydrophilicity, and oxygen permeability, said composition being a copolymer of comonomers consisting essentially of:

• (A) about 15 to about 65% by weight of at least one amide group containing monomer being selected from a group consisting essentially of:
• (a) heterocyclic amide group containing monomers consisting essentially of:
• (1) N-(olefin containing group)-2-pyrrolidone,
• (2) N-(olefin containing group)-2-piperidone,
• (3) N-(olefin containing group)-2-imidazolidone, and
• (4) N-(olefin containing group) succinimide,
• wherein said olefin containing group is selected from a group consisting essentially of vinyl, acryloxy, methacryloxy, acrylatoalkyl, methacrylatoalkyl, acrylamidoalkyl and methacrylamidoalkyl groups, wherein the alkyl group contains from one to 4 carbon atoms, and
• (b) noncyclic amide group containing monomers consisting essentially of N-alkyl acrylamide, N-alkyl methacrylamide, N,N-dialkylacrylamide and N,N-dialkylmethacrylamide, wherein the alkyl group is individually selected from a group consisting of unsubstituted and substituted monovalent hydrocarbon radicals having from one to 6 carbon atoms;
• (B) about 10 to about 75% by weight of at least one organosilicon compound, wherein the essential constituent units of each molecular compound have the formulas:
• ##EQU4## wherein each molecular compound contains one M group and the molar ratio of from about 1 to 99 to about 99 to 1;
• R is selected from a group consisting of hydrogen and methyl group;
• R' and R", which may be the same or different, are monovalent hydrocarbon groups selected from a group consisting of C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl groups, cyclohexyl groups and phenyl groups;
• n is an integer of from one to three inclusive;
• a is an integer selected a range of from 0 to 2 inclusive and b is an integer selected a range of from zero to three inclusive;
• and
• (C) about 0.1 to about 65% by weight of at least one ester of a C.sub.1 -C.sub.20 alkanol and an acid selected from a group consisting of acrylic and methacrylic acids.

A composition of matter specially adapted for use as a contact lens device having the characteristics of increased hydrophilicity, and oxygen permeability, said composition being a copolymer of comonomers consisting essentially of:

• (A) about 20 to about 45% by weight of at least one amide group containing monomer being selected from a group consisting essentially of N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone, N-(2'-methacrylatoethyl)-2-pyrrolidone, N-methyl acrylamide, N-methyl methacrylamide, N,N-dimethyl acrylamide and N,N-dimethyl methacrylamide;
• (B) about 10 to about 50% by weight of at least one organosilicon compound, wherein the essential constituent units of each molecular compound have the formulas:
• ##EQU5## wherein each molecular compound contains one M group and the molar ratio of about 1 to 99 to about 99 to 1;
• R is selected from a group consisting of hydrogen and methyl group;
• R' and R", which may be the same or different, are monovalent hydrocarbon groups selected from a group consisting of C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl groups and phenyl groups;
• n is an integer of from one to three inclusive;
• a is an integer selected a range of from 0 to 2 inclusive and b is an integer selected a range of from zero to three inclusive;
• and
• (C) 0.2 to about 35% by weight of at least one ester of a C.sub.1 -C.sub.20 alkanol and an acid selected from a group consisting of acrylic and methacrylic acids.