Viability studies of hydrogel contact lens on a 3D printed platform as ocular drug delivery carrier for diabetic retinopathy

摘要

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a microvascular disease that damages retinal layers. Avastin loaded PHEMA hydrogel lens as a topical implant is presented here for DR therapy. The lens is fabricated upon a novel, cost-effective and simple to design 3D printed platform. It has contours similar to a commercial contact lens for patient comfort and added characteristics of a drug delivery vehicle. The lens swelling properties are comparable to the commercial lens. The percentage of cumulative drug released between 0 and 1500 min is 60 , and the release kinetics follows the Korsmeyer- Pappas (KP) release model with 40-60 anti-VEGF effects.