Actinically curable silicone hydrogel copolymers and uses thereof
AssigneeNovartis AG
InventorJohn Christopher Phelan
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Abstract
The present invention provides inks and methods for making colored silicone hydrogel contact lenses. The ink of the invention comprises an actinically-curable binder copolymer comprising fluorine-containing segments and is characterized by having capability to be cured actinically or thermally to form a colored film on a molding surface of a mold or a silicone hydrogel contact lens and by having an increased durability in a solvated state in a silicone-hydrogel lens formulation in relation to a control colored film obtained from a control ink including an actinically-curable fluorine-free binder copolymer. The invention also provides methods for making colored silicone hydrogel contact lenses based on print-on-mold processes for producing colored contact lenses.
Claims11
An ink for making colored contact lenses, comprising:
- at least one colorant, a solvent, and a fluorine-containing binder copolymer, wherein the fluorine-containing binder copolymer comprises multiple ethylenically unsaturated groups, hydrophilic segments derived from one or more hydrophilic vinylic monomers, fluorine-containing segments derived from one or more fluorine-containing vinylic monomers, and silicone-containing segments derived from at least one silicone-containing vinylic monomer or macromer, wherein the amount of the ethylenically unsaturated groups in the fluorine-containing binder polymer is high enough to ensure that the fluorine-containing binder copolymer can be crosslinked actinically or thermally to form a colorant-entrapping polymer network capable of entrapping the colorant in the ink, wherein the ink is characterized by having capability to be cured actinically or thermally to form a colored film on a molding surface of a mold, wherein the colored film comprises the colorant-entrapping polymer network and the colorant entrapped therein, wherein the colored film is characterized by having an increased durability in a solvated state in a silicone-hydrogel lens formulation in relation to a control colored film obtained from a control ink including an actinically-curable fluorine-free binder copolymer, wherein the colored film has good adhesion to the contact lens without being covalently attached to the lens material of the contact lens.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.