Preparation and Physical Properties of Silicone Hydrogel Ophthalmic Lens Containing Hydrophilic Monomer

The major physical characteristics of macromolecules used in silicone hydrogel ophthalmic lenses include optical transmittance, oxygen permeability, water content, and refractive index. For the preparation of highly functional silicone hydrogel lens materials, two silicone monomers were used in the presence of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and hydroxypropyl methacrylate (HPMA). The samples containing HEMA and HPMA had oxygen transmissibility (Dk) values in the range of 73.38–50.98 × 10-11 (cm2/s) (mLO2/mL×mmHg) and 71.94–42.80 × 10-11 (cm2/s) (mLO2/mL×mmHg), respectively. Furthermore, the water contents of samples containing HEMA and HPMA were in the range of 32.73–34.67% and 31.94–33.74%, respectively, and the refractive indices were in the range of 1.4348–1.4364 and 1.4385–1.4407, respectively. Thus, silicone monomers containing HEMA and HPMA are expected to be useful for fabricating high-oxygen-permeability silicon hydrogel ophthalmic lenses.