Evaluation of a class of polyurethane materials for intraocular lens manufacturing

• Published in: Journal of biomedical materials research. Part B, Applied biomaterials Vol. 103; no. 6; pp. 1274 - 1286
• Main Authors: Bozukova, Dimitriya, Bertrand, Virginie, Pagnoulle, Christophe, De Pauw-Gillet, Marie-Claire
• Format: Journal Article Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: United States Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.08.2015; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc; John Wiley & Sons
• Subjects: Animals; biocompatibility; biomaterials; Biomedical materials; Cell Adhesion; Cells, Cultured; Epithelial Cells - cytology; Epithelial Cells - metabolism; Human health sciences; Humans; intraocular lens; Lenses, Intraocular; Materials research; Materials science; Materials Testing; Ophtalmologie; Ophthalmology; polyurethanes; Polyurethanes - chemistry; Sciences de la santé humaine; Swine; thermoplastic elastomers; biomaterials; thermoplastic elastomers; biocompatibility; polyurethanes; intraocular lens
• ISSN: 1552-4973; 1552-4981; 1552-4981
• DOI: 10.1002/jbm.b.33305

Ophthalmic lenses are medical devices with considerable requirements in terms of optical, biomechanical and biological performance. There is limited number of materials used for their manufacturing, comprising mainly silicones and poly(meth)acrylates. This series of publications aims at investigating the applicability of thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers (TPU) for the manufacturing of ophthalmic lenses and examining the properties of the respective devices. This study is related to the synthesis of TPUs with chemical compositions that comprise chemically grafted filters for the hazardous-light. GC-MS, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and UV-vis spectroscopies confirmed the reaction completion and the beneficial effect of the filters on the light transmittance, respectively. Relatively high refractive index of the material was measured and allows for the manufacturing of thinner lenses. The contrast sensitivity determined for a model intraocular lens (IOL) was satisfactory. Few optical defects were, however, present on the model lens prepared by thermoplastic injection molding. The elasticity of the materials was evaluated in view to their potential applicability as foldable IOLs by determining their glass transition temperature and their Young modulus and measuring their shore A. The TPU materials demonstrated more bioadhesive character compared with a benchmark hydrophilic acrylic reference material, which is already used for IOL manufacturing.