Wesley-Jessen Corporation

Other

Schering Corporation

Chah M Shen

Samuel Loshaek

Hydrophilic contact lenses produced by polymerizing

Hydrophylic contact lenses and methods for making same

This invention relates to contact lenses having an oxygen gas permeability constant of at least ##EQU1## comprising homopolymers and interpolymers formed by the polymerization of monomers comprising at least one alkyl styrene monomer having at least one C.sub.1 or higher alkyl group on the aromatic ring and improved surface wettability and to the method of making such contact lenses utilizing ultraviolet (UV) and chemical treatment.

Contact lenses of high gas permeability and method

This invention relates to bonnets for making contact lenses and contact lenses having high gas permeability shaped from a polymer selected from (a) polymers consisting essentially of the polymerization reaction products of one or a combination of different alkyl styrene monomers with one or more alkyl substituents on the aromatic ring and an unsubstituted vinyl group, and optionally at least one compatible cross-linking monomer, (b) polymers consisting essentially of the polymerization reaction products of at least one alkyl styrene monomer as defined in (a) with one or a combination of other styrene monomers selected from styrene, styrene with an alkyl substituent on the vinyl group only, and styrene with both an alkyl substituent on the vinyl group and one or more alkyl substituents on the aromatic ring, and optionally at least one compatible cross-linking monomer and (c) polymers consisting essentially of the polymerization reaction products of one of the styrenes defined in (a) and (b) or combinations thereof with at least one compatible monoolefinically unsaturated polymerizable monomer, and optionally at least one compatible cross-linking monomer.

Contact lenses of high gas permeability

Cross-linked hydrophilic interpolymers and contact lenses made therefrom comprising hydrophilic units of which the only or major proportion are derived from an N-vinyl heterocyclic monomer, hydrophobic units derived from the group consisting of styrene and ring-substituted styrenes, and cross-linking units derived from monomers containing two or more polymerizable double bonds per monomer unit.

Hydrophilic polymers and contact lenses of high water content

Contact lenses comprising hydrophilic units of which the only or major proportion are derived from an N-vinyl heterocyclic monomer hydrophobic units derived from a hydrophobic monomer, and allylic cross-linking units containing more than one polymerizable double bond selected from monoallyl itaconate, diallyl itaconate, triallyl cyanurate, triallyl isocyanurate, triallyl trimellitate, N,N-diallylmelamine, other multifunctional allyl monomers formed by the esterification of polybasic acids with allyl alcohol, or mixtures thereof; the proportions of said monomers being adjusted to give the desired water content and resistance to dissolution when the polymer is swollen to equilibrium in an aqueous environment.

Contact lenses of high water content

This invention comprises a gas-permeable contact lens consisting essentially of a plasticized cellulose resin selected from a partially esterified or partially etherified cellulose polymer plasticized with a compatible plasticizer in an amount sufficient to increase the gas permeability of the cellulose resin.

Gas-permeable lens

In the process of making optically clear hydrophilic copolymers formed by copolymerizing a glycol monoester of acrylic or methacrylic acid with an alkoxy monomer having the formula: ##STR1## wherein R is a C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 straight or branched chain alkoxy group, R' is a C.sub.2 or C.sub.3 straight or branched chain alkylene group, X is hydrogen or a methyl group, m is either 1 or 0, and n is an integer from 1 to 20, the improvement comprising distilling at least said alkoxy monomer under high vacuum and low temperature prior to copolymerization, promptly adding to said distilled monomer an amount of polymerization inhibitor below that which would inhibit copolymerization, but sufficient to provide a hydrated copolymer of high optical clarity, and then copolymerizing said monomer and said glycol monoester to form said hydrophilic copolymer. The invention also comprises the improved method of making hydrophilic buttons and contact lenses, particularly corneal contact lenses, from said hydrophilic copolymers.

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Chicago, IL, United States of America

Chah M Shen