Bandage lenses are used in the treatment of ocular diseases and are often administered together with pharmaceutical eye drops1. The effects of the pharmaceutical eye drops on the lens materials are however mostly unknown. The commercially available silicone hydrogels bandage lenses Acuvue® OASYS (senofilcon A), PureVision® and PureVision2® (balafilcon A) were studied together with the pharmaceutical eye drops Isopto®-Maxidex, Timosan® and Oftaquix®. Laser desorption ionization-mass spectrometry (LDI-MS) was applied as a rapid and novel technique to determine the presence of the active ingredients dexamethasone, timolol maleate and levofloxacin hemihydrate on the contact lens surfaces. Uptake of drugs was successfully detected by LDI-MS measurements where the characteristic peak of the active ingredients was observed on all contact lens surfaces. After the uptake studies significant changes in the surface morphologies were observed by SEM illustrating rougher, more defined surfaces with salt clusters and deposits. Furthermore, the uptake and release behavior of the active ingredients were analysed during 24 hours, at human body temperature 37○C in an orbital incubator shaker at 100 rpm using UV-vis spectroscopy. All the lenses took up the active substance from all the eye drops with the highest percentage uptake of dexamethasone exhibited by PureVision2® (48%) and PureVision® (45%). Acuvue® OASYS showed the highest percentage uptake of timolol maleate (52%). The release of the active ingredients reached a plateau after 24 hours suggesting an accumulation of the drugs. This analysis method was found to be effective and facile for drug assessment on contact lens materials and provided clinically useful information about the silicone hydrogel bandage lenses used in this study. 1 A. Boone, A. Hui, and L. Jones, 'Uptake and Release of Dexamethasone Phosphate from Silicone Hydrogel and Group I, Ii, and Iv Hydrogel Contact Lenses', Eye & Contact Lens-Science and Clinical Practice, 35 (2009), 260-67.

Silicone-hydrogel bandage lenses used in conjunction with pharmaceutical eye drops: An uptake and release study

251st National Meeting (2016)

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