The invention provides a method for making silicone hydrogel contact lenses. The method of the invention is characterized by using an organic solvent as a processing-aid tool for controlling lens diameter without significantly affecting lens equilibrium water content during cast-molding of soft contact lenses from a polymerizable composition. By adjusting the weight percentage of the organic solvent in a polymerizable composition for making SiHy contact lenses, one can adjust lens diameter of produced SiHy lenses to meet target without affecting adversely the lens properties.

Some aspects of the present disclosure relate to a surgical treatment for treating a tissue inside a vertebral column by forming a low-swelling biodegradable hydrogel in situ adherent to a tissue inside the vertebral column and substantially exterior to a theca in the vertebral column.

A responsive hydrogel-based material may be used as a carrier system for the in situ delivery of various cargo substances, including bioactive moieties. The hydrogel structure, which includes photodegradable and thioether moieties in its three dimensional network, enables finely tuned local release of cargo substances as a function of the in vivo tissue environment (e.g., enzyme concentration or reducing environment) and externally applied stimuli (e.g., light) by selective spatiotemporal hydrogel degradation.

A compound made by copolymerizing a poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) chain transfer agent, an acrylate salt, and a polyethylene glycol diacrylate. A compound made by copolymerizing a polyethylene glycol, a glycerol ethoxylate, and an aliphatic diisocyanate.

The technology relates to a method of producing a moulded polyurethane hydrogel, for example a condom. The method involves forming a solution of at least one polyurethane having a molecular weight of between about 40000 to about 500000 in a water:organic polar solvent comprising less than about 40% (v/v) water; applying a layer of the solution to a mould; drying the layer of the first solution to form a polyurethane film on the mould; and contacting the polyurethane film with a swelling agent under conditions such that the film forms a polyurethane hydrogel with a swelling agent content of between about 1% to about 95%.

Methods for making a conductive hydrogel, comprising photochemically polymerizing polymerizable hydrogel-forming agents in the presence of a polymerizable conductive monomer to provide a conductive hydrogel; liquid resins for preparing conductive hydrogels comprising photochemically polymerizable hydrogel-forming agents and polymerizable conductive monomers; conductive hydrogels prepared by the methods or from the liquid resins; and electrodes comprising the conductive hydrogels.

The present invention relates to silicone hydrogels exhibiting desired combinations of physical and mechanical properties, formed from a reactive monomer mixture comprising at least one N-alkyl methacrylamide, and at least one silicone-containing component. These silicone hydrogels may also contain hydrophilic components, crosslinking agents and toughening monomers. These silicone hydrogels are useful in preparing biomedical devices, ophthalmic lenses, and contact lenses.

The present invention exploits reactive organophosphorus compounds containing unsaturated vinyl groups, which can be used in a flexible and highly controlled manner to prepare various macromolecular derivatives either via radical reactions or via Michael addition with suitable nucleophiles. Based on the fact that secondary amine groups on the one hand and vinyl groups on the other hand can work as mutual linking sites, an arsenal of novel and useful addition products can be built up. By selecting the number of secondary amine sites and vinyl sites of the participating reaction partners, very different addition products can be formed. In particular, one can form either linear chain type macromolecules (i.e. linear oligomers or polymers) or highly crosslinked network polymers.

A crosslinkable composition comprises: A1) at least one multifunctional isocyanate-terminated urethane prepolymer comprising between 1 and 16 isocyanate functionalities on average, the prepolymer being a product of the reaction of a diisocyanate, a triisocyanate or a polyisocyanate with a functionality strictly greater than 3, with a polyol comprising 1 to 8 hydroxyl groups; and/or A2) at least one mono, di or polyisocyanate and/or an oligoglycerol; with B) at least one macropolyol chosen from: B1) oligoglycerols with an average degree of polymerisation less than or equal to 7, B2) glycerol dendrimers, B3) linear, branched or hyperbranched polyglycerols with a degree of polymerisation greater than or equal to 8, B4) mixtures of hyperbranched polyglycerols and linear, branched or hyperbranched oligoglycerols, with a degree of polymerisation of between 2 and 7, optionally functionalised.

The present invention generally relates to inherently wettable silicone hydrogel contact lenses having relatively high oxygen permeability, relatively high equilibrium water content and relatively low elastic modulus. The present invention is also related to a method for making such inherently wettable silicone hydrogel contact lenses.