Organically Pigmented Contact Lenses for Ocular Therapeutics

Tints Lenses with Food-Extracted Nanoparticles to Treat Visual Disorders and Protect Against Light, Microbes, and Oxidants

These tinted contact lenses integrate food-derived materials to create unicolor lenses that can block the desired wavelengths of light in order to treat light sensitivity conditions and additionally provide anti-microbial and anti-oxidant properties. The colored lenses block both UV and high intensity (near UV) visible light, affording greater protection to the eyes compared to commercial lenses. Colored contact lenses also have the potential to treat a variety of ophthalmic conditions, including refractive errors, color blindness, photophobia, and amblyopia. For light-sensitivity diseases such as photophobia, available tinted contact lenses cannot prevent high-frequency light exposure and only mitigate symptoms of ultraviolet or visible light damage. Available treatments for amblyopia that block light using occlusion patches or corrective glasses are high cost and can cause patient discomfort.

Researchers at the University of Florida have developed pigmented contact lenses that can offer nearly complete protection against both high-intensity visible and non-visible UV light to improve protection of the eyes and treat a variety of ophthalmic conditions. The coloring pigments utilize nanoparticles extracted from foods to create lenses with residual plant-based properties, providing anti-microbial and anti-oxidant qualities.

Application

Organic color-tinted, soft contact lenses that manage ocular disorders such as amblyopia, photophobia, and color vision deficiency

Advantages

• Contains a uniform tint, protecting the eye against ranges of visible and ultraviolet light
• Derives pigment from biorenewable food and retains the source food chemistry, imparting certain anti-microbial and anti-oxidant properties to the lenses
• Utilizes hydrophobic materials preventing leaching for better lens stability
• Pairs with vitamin E, suggesting potential application as an optical device for efficient glaucoma drug delivery

Technology

Pigments directly extracted from natural food products join a lens monomer mix. Compressed nitrogen then removes dissolved oxygen and free radicals from the solution. Once this is complete, the solution moves into a circular glass mold where ultraviolet radiation strikes the mixture to form a polymer. The mixture polymerizes into a gel suitable for contact lens creation using a desired mold. Alternatively, ethanol or another organic solvent forms a solution containing the pigments. Soaking in the solution tints the pre-formed lenses with the pigment loads the pigment into the lenses.