Back to results
US 6,550,915 B1Granted
Surface treatment of fluorinated contact lens materials
AssigneeBausch & Lomb Incorporated
InventorGeorge L. Grobe, III
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Hydrogen-plasma modification of a contact lens made from a fluorinated polymer reduces the surface chemistry of by removing fluorine, leaving behind a carbon-enriched surface that is further plasma processed into a hydrophilic surface for a lens material to be inserted into the ocular environment.
Claims9
A method for treating the surface of a fluorinated contact lens material comprising the following steps:
- (a) plasma treating the lens with a hydrogen-containing atmosphere for a total time period of at least 2 minutes, at a wattage of greater than 25 watts and a pressure of 0.1 to 1.0 torr, to reduce the fluorine content by at least 25 percent over the first 74 angstroms of the surface as determined by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis;
- and subsequently
- (b) oxidizing the surface with an oxygen or nitrogen-containing gas or gaseous mixture, thereby increasing the wettability or biocompatibility of the lens.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.