The invention is related to a hydrated silicone hydrogel contact lens having a layered structural configuration: a lower water content silicone hydrogel core (or bulk material) completely covered with a layer of a higher water content hydrogel totally or substantially free of silicone. A hydrated silicone hydrogel contact lens of the invention possesses high oxygen permeability for maintaining the corneal health and a soft, water-rich, lubricious surface for wearing comfort.

The invention is related to a method for producing silicone hydrogel contact lenses with a stable lubricious hydrogel coating thereon. A method of the invention comprises forming a plasma-reactive hydrophilic polymer hybrid base coating having reactive functional groups on a silicone hydrogel contact lens and heating the silicone hydrogel contact lens with the hybrid base coating in an aqueous solution of a water-soluble and thermally crosslinkable hydrophilic polymeric material to form a stable lubricious hydrogel coating thereon.

A container (1) for accommodating an ophthalmic lens during a lens treatment process has a longitudinal axis (11) and comprises as separate elements a containment element (2), a mounting element (3), and a retaining element (4). The containment element (2) comprises a tubular section (21) and a bottom (22) arranged at a distal end of the tubular section (21), the bottom (22) protruding convexly towards the outside at the distal end of the tubular section (21) and being provided with a number of apertures (23, 24), the tubular section (21) at a proximal end (25) thereof having a latch (26) protruding from the proximal end (25) of the tubular section (21) towards the mounting element (3). The mounting element (3) comprises a sidewall (31) extending along the longitudinal axis (11) of the container (1), the sidewall (31) being provided with recesses or orifices (32) which are in engagement with the latch (26) of the containment element (2). The mounting element (3) further comprises an access opening (37) arranged at a proximal end of the mounting element (3) remote from the containment element (2). The retaining element (4) is fixedly arranged in between the containment element (2) and the mounting element (3), the retaining element (4) being configured to prevent the ophthalmic lens from being washed out of the containment element (2) and to permit access for a gripper through the access opening (37) of the mounting element (3) into the containment element (2) for insertion and removal of the ophthalmic lens.

The invention is related to a cost-effective method for making a silicone hydrogel contact lens having a crosslinked hydrophilic coating thereon. A method of the invention involves heating a silicone hydrogel contact lens in an aqueous solution in the presence of a water-soluble, highly branched, thermally-crosslinkable hydrophilic polymeric material having positively-charged azetidinium groups, to and at a temperature from about 40 C. to about 140 C. for a period of time sufficient to covalently attach the thermally-crosslinkable hydrophilic polymeric material onto the surface of the silicone hydrogel contact lens through covalent linkages each formed between one azetidinium group and one of the reactive functional groups on and/or near the surface of the silicone hydrogel contact lens, thereby forming a crosslinked hydrophilic coating on the silicone hydrogel contact lens. Such method can be advantageously implemented directly in a sealed lens package during autoclave.

The invention is related to a cost-effective method for making a silicone hydrogel contact lens having a crosslinked hydrophilic coating thereon. A method of the invention involves heating a silicone hydrogel contact lens in an aqueous solution in the presence of a water-soluble, highly branched, thermally-crosslinkable hydrophilic polymeric material having positively-charged azetidinium groups, to and at a temperature from about 40 C. to about 140 C. for a period of time sufficient to covalently attach the thermally-crosslinkable hydrophilic polymeric material onto the surface of the silicone hydrogel contact lens through covalent linkages each formed between one azetidinium group and one of the reactive functional groups on and/or near the surface of the silicone hydrogel contact lens, thereby forming a crosslinked hydrophilic coating on the silicone hydrogel contact lens. Such method can be advantageously implemented directly in a sealed lens package during autoclave.

A contact lens is provided as a hydrate of a copolymer of at least three components including (I) a both terminal-polymerizable silicone oligomer component that forms a hydrophobic region (A) in the copolymer, (II) a hydrophilic component that forms a hydrophilic region (C) in the copolymer, and (III) a hydrophobic monomer component having a molecular weight of at most 700 that forms the hydrophilic region (C) together with the component (II) and also contributes to form an intermediate region (B) which does not solvate with a hydrophilic solvent between the hydrophobic region (A) and hydrophilic region (C), wherein the intermediate region (B) shows a volume rate of 5 to 40% with respect to the region (A) in the copolymer, and the contact lens is transparent and free from bubbles therein.

The present invention relates to improved contact lens products which not only have an improved and sustainable wettability. The contact lens product of the invention comprises a soft hydrogel contact lens immersed and autoclaved in a packaging solution including a polyoxyethylene-polyoxybutylene block copolymer and a high molecular weight copolymer of N-vinylpyrrolidone and at least one amino-containing vinylic monomer. The present invention also provides methods for making contact lens products of the invention.

A method for introducing an active compound into a soft hydrated contact lens comprising the steps of: providing a hypotonic aqueous solution having an osmolarity value less than 150 mOsm and an effective quantity of that active compound, immersing the soft contact lens in the aqueous hypotonic solution, subjecting the contact lens immersed in the aqueous hypotonic solution to mechanical vibrations having a power greater than 100 mW for a predetermined time.

Described herein is a UV/HEVL-filtering SiHy contact lens that not only has a relatively high UV/HEVL filtering capability but also has an aesthetic appealing color. The bulk silicone hydrogel of the UV/HEVL-filtering SiHy contact lens comprises repeating units of (1) at least one hydrophilic vinylic monomer, (2) at least one siloxane-containing vinylic monomer and/or at least one polysiloxane vinylic crosslinker, (3) at least one UV-absorbing vinylic monomer, and (4) a least one polymerizable HEVL-absorbing compound capable of absorbing HEVL between 380 nm and 450 nm and also comprises at least one blue-tinting agent and at least one optical brightener distributed therein.

A container (1) for accommodating an ophthalmic lens during a lens treatment process has a longitudinal axis (11) and comprises as separate elements a containment element (2), a mounting element (3), and a retaining element (4). The containment element (2) comprises a tubular section (21) and a bottom (22) arranged at a distal end of the tubular section (21), the bottom (22) protruding convexly towards the outside at the distal end of the tubular section (21) and being provided with a number of apertures (23, 24), the tubular section (21) at a proximal end (25) thereof having a latch (26) protruding from the proximal end (25) of the tubular section (21) towards the mounting element (3). The mounting element (3) comprises a sidewall (31) extending along the longitudinal axis (11) of the container (1), the sidewall (31) being provided with recesses or orifices (32) which are in engagement with the latch (26) of the containment element (2). The mounting element (3) further comprises an access opening (37) arranged at a proximal end of the mounting element (3) remote from the containment element (2). The retaining element (4) is fixedly arranged in between the containment element (2) and the mounting element (3), the retaining element (4) being configured to prevent the ophthalmic lens from being washed out of the containment element (2) and to permit access for a gripper through the access opening (37) of the mounting element (3) into the containment element (2) for insertion and removal of the ophthalmic lens.