Contact lens material
AssigneeBiocompatibles Limited
InventorsRoderick William Jonathon Bowers, Peter William Stratford, Stephen Alister Jones
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Cross-linked copolymers which are obtainable by polymerizing a neutral diluent monomer or monomers, a monomer or monomers bearing a center of permanent positive charge, and a bifunctional and/or trifunctional cross-linking agent, are suitable for use in contact lenses. Process for producing them by copolymerization, contact lens material comprising them, contact lenses made of them and processes for producing contact lenses from them.
Claims42
A contact lens material manufactured from a polymer formed by polymerizing monomers consisting essentially of:
- (a) at least 70% by weight diluent monomer consisting essentially of hydroxyethylmethacrylate;
- (b) 0.1 to 5% by weight of further polymer ingredients consisting only of crosslinking monomers and polymerization initiators and including at least 0.1% by weight of crosslinking monomer;
- and
- (c) at least 0.2% by weight of zwitterionic monomer of the formula (V):
- wherein BB is a straight or branched C1-C6 alkylene chain optionally interrupted by one or more oxygen atoms:
- nn is from 1 to 12;
- R11 is H or a C1-C4 alkyl group;
- and
- YY is a zwitterionic group which is selected from the group consisting of VIC, VID and VIE:
- wherein mm is 1 to 4, nn is 1 to 12 and BB is a straight or branched C1-C6 alkylene chain optionally interrupted by one or more oxygen atoms.
A contact lens manufactured from a polymer formed by polymerizing monomers consisting essentially of:
- (a) at least 70% by weight diluent monomer consisting essentially of hydroxyethylmethacrylate;
- (b) 0.1 to 5% by weight of further polymer ingredients consisting only of crosslinking monomers and polymerization initiators and including at least 0.1% by weight of crosslinking monomer;
- and
- (c) at least 0.2% by weight of zwitterionic monomer of the formula (V):
- wherein BB is a straight or branched C1-C6 alkylene chain optionally interrupted by one or more oxygen atoms:
- nn is from 1 to 12;
- R11 is H or a C1-C4 alkyl group;
- and
- YY is a zwitterionic group which is selected from the group consisting of VIC, VID and VIE:
- wherein mm is 1 to 4, nn is 1 to 12 and BB is a straight or branched C1-C6 alkylene chain optionally interrupted by one or more oxygen atoms.
In a process for making a contact lens comprising providing individual monomers (a), (b) and (c), forming a blend of monomers by dissolving components (b) and (c) into monomer (a) in the absence of non-polymerizable diluent, removing any oxygen from the solution, and polymerizing the monomer blend in a mold to form a contact lens material which is a xerogel and cutting the xerogel to form a shaped contact lens, the improvement comprising using as the blend a blend which consists essentially of:
- (a) at least 70% by weight diluent monomer consisting essentially of hydroxyethylmethacrylate;
- (b) 0.1 to 5% by weight of further polymer ingredients consisting only of crosslinking monomers and polymerization initiators and including at least 0.1% by weight of crosslinking monomer;
- and
- (c) at least 0.2% by weight of zwitterionic monomer of the formula (V):
- wherein BB is a straight or branched C1-C6 alkylene chain optionally interrupted by one or more oxygen atoms:
- nn is from 1 to 12;
- R11 is H or a C1-C4 alkyl group;
- and
- YY is a zwitterionic group which is selected from the group consisting of VIC, VID and VIE:
- wherein mm is 1 to 4, nn is 1 to 12 and BB is a straight or branched C1-C6 alkylene chain optionally interrupted by one or more oxygen atoms.
In a process for making a contact lens comprising providing individual monomers (a), (b) and (c), forming a blend of monomers by dissolving components (b) and (c) into monomer (a) in the absence of non-polymerizable diluent, removing any oxygen from the solution, and polymerizing the monomer blend in a contact lens mold to form a shaped contact lens which is xerogel, the improvement comprising in using as the blend a blend which consists essentially of:
- (a) at least 70% by weight diluent monomer consisting essentially of hydroxyethylmethacrylate;
- (b) 0.1 to 5% by weight of further polymer ingredients consisting only of crosslinking monomers and polymerization initiators and including at least 0.1% by weight of crosslinking monomer;
- and
- (c) at least 0.2% by weight of zwitterionic monomer of the formula (V):
- wherein BB is a straight or branched C1-C6 alkylene chain optionally interrupted by one or more oxygen atoms:
- nn is from 1 to 12;
- R11 is H or a C1-C4 alkyl group;
- and
- YY is a zwitterionic group which is selected from the group consisting of VIC, VID and VIE:
- wherein mm is 1 to 4, nn is 1 to 12 and BB is a straight or branched C1-C6 alkylene chain optionally interrupted by one or more oxygen atoms.
A contact lens material manufactured from a polymer formed by polymerizing monomers consisting essentially of:
- (a) at least 70% by weight diluent monomer consisting essentially of hydroxyethylmethacrylate;
- and
- (b) 0.1 to 5% by weight of further polymer ingredients consisting only of crosslinking monomers and polymerization initiators and including at least 0.1% by weight of crosslinking monomer;
- and
- (c) at least 0.2% by weight of zwitterionic monomer of the formula
- R is H or a C1-C4 alkyl group;
- A is —O—, or NR1 where R1 is selected from hydrogen and C1-4-alkyl;
- BB is a straight or branched C1-6-alkylene chain optionally interrupted by one or more oxygen atoms;
- nn is from 1 to 12;
- and
- X is a group IVC
- wherein the groups R7 are the same or different and each is hydrogen or C1-4 alkyl and e is from 1 to 4.
In a process for making a contact lens comprising providing individual monomers (a), (b) and (c), forming a blend of monomers by dissolving components (b) and (c) into monomer (a), removing any oxygen from the solution, polymerizing the monomer blend in the absence of non-polymerizable diluent in a mold to form a contact lens material which is a xerogel, and cutting the xerogel material to form a shaped contact lens, the improvement comprising in using as the blend a blend which consists essentially of:
- (a) at least 70% by weight diluent monomer consisting essentially of hydroxyethylmethacrylate;
- and
- (b) 0.1 to 5% by weight of further polymer ingredients consisting only of crosslinking monomers and polymerization initiators and including at least 0.1% by weight of crosslinking monomer;
- and
- (c) at least 0.2% by weight of zwitterionic monomer of the formula
- R is H or a C1-C4 alkyl group;
- A is —O—, or NR1 where R1 is selected from hydrogen and C1-4-alkyl;
- BB is a straight or branched C1-6-alkylene chain optionally interrupted by one or more oxygen atoms;
- nn is from 1 to 12;
- and
- X is a group IVC
- wherein the groups R7 are the same or different and each is hydrogen or C1-4 alkyl and e is from 1 to 4.
In a process for making a contact lens comprising forming a blend of monomers and polymerizing the blend in the absence of non-polymerizable diluent in a contact lens mold to form a shaped contact lens which is a xerogel, the improvement comprising in using as the blend a blend which consists essentially of:
- (a) at least 70% by weight diluent monomer consisting essentially of hydroxyethylmethacrylate;
- and
- (b) 0.1 to 5% by weight of crosslinking monomer;
- and
- (c) at least 0.2% by weight and up to the balance, to 100%, of zwitterionic monomer of the formula
- R is H or a C1-C4 alkyl group;
- A is —O—, or NR1 where R1 is selected from hydrogen and C1-4-alkyl
- BB is a straight or branched C1-6-alkylene chain optionally interrupted by one or more oxygen atoms;
- nn is from 1 to 12;
- and
- X is a group IVC
- wherein the groups R7 are the same or different and each is hydrogen or C1-4 alkyl and e is from 1 to 4.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.