Saline solution for treating contact lenses
AssigneeAlcon Laboratories, Inc.
InventorsBahram Asgharian, Masood Chowhan, Paul Stach
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Saline solutions useful in treating contact lenses are described. Unlike prior saline solutions used for similar purposes, the present solutions do not contain conventional antimicrobial agents which are potentially toxic to ocular tissues. Rather, the solutions contain a combination of a borate-polyol complex, one or more anionic or nonionic surfactants, and a low molecular weight amino acid (e.g., glycine). It has been found that this combination effectively preserves the saline solutions from antimicrobial contamination, is relatively nontoxic to ocular tissues, and is compatible with oxidizing agents used in certain contact lens disinfecting systems. The combination also facilitates the cleaning of contact lenses.
Claims13
A saline solution useful in the treatment of contact lenses, said solution comprising water and a single preservative system to prevent microbial contamination of the solution, said preservative system consisting of:
- 0.5 to 6.0 w/v % of a borate-polyol complex wherein the molar ratio of borate to polyol is from 1:0.1 to 1:1;
- 0.001 to 0.1 w/v % of a surfactant having antimicrobial activity;
- and
- 0.1 to 7.5 w/v % of a low molecular weight amino acid;
- wherein EDTA is absent from the solution.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.