Abstract: An arbor for lathe cutting lenses, especially contact lenses, from a blank, is designed for the mounting of a lens mold with a cast lens blank therein during lathing of the lens blank. The arbor is made in a manner to ensure the lens mold is axially aligned with the arbor. The arbor can be reused for lathe cutting of multiple lens blanks retained in their respective lens molds.

Abstract: Hydrogen-plasma modification of a contact lens made from a fluorinated polymer reduces the surface chemistry of by removing fluorine, leaving behind a carbon-enriched surface that is further plasma processed into a hydrophilic surface for a lens material to be inserted into the ocular environment.

Abstract: The invention provides a method for inhibiting the binding of a biguanide antimicrobial in aqueous solution to a hydrogel in contact with said solution comprising providing in said solution an amount of cyclodextrin sufficient to inhibit sorption of the biguanide antimicrobial to a hydrogel.

Abstract: A method of extracting residual materials from a polymeric, ophthalmic biomedical device, such as a contact lens, by using a mixture comprised of a primary solvent, such as carbon dioxide, and a polar co-solvent, such as isopropanol. By exposing the device to the co-solvent, the device expands. By pulsing or varying the concentration of the polar co-solvent in the mixture, the lens dimensions vary accordingly. When the lens is extracted while retained in a mold, the changes in lens dimensions causes the lens to be released from the mold.

Abstract: Toric contact lenses are provided with markings that enable identification of the offset between the cylindrical axis of the toric zone and the ballast axis. Surfaces of the lenses include two markings, a first identifiable marking that is aligned with the cylindrical axis, and a second identifiable marking that is aligned with the ballast axis.

Abstract: A method of making a lens, such as a contact lens, with a colored portion involves introducing a lens-forming monomer mixture and a colored material to a lens mold, applying a magnetic field to the monomer mixture and the colored material, whereby the colored material migrates in response to the magnetic field to form a desired pattern, and curing the lens-forming monomer mixture with the colored material forming a desired colored pattern in the lens.

Abstract: A method for photopolymerizing a monomer mixture to form a lens involves charging to a mold a monomer mixture including lens-forming monomers, and exposing the monomer mixture in the mold to a light source including light in the visible region of the spectrum. The method is useful for monomer mixtures that include a UV-absorbing compound and/or a tinting agent. Preferably, the monomer mixtures include a polymerization initiator including a phosphine oxide moiety.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to new and improved solutions for packaging contact lenses and to methods for treating contact lenses with such solutions to improve the comfort of the lenses during wear. In particular, the present invention is directed to packing solutions comprising certain non-ionic surfactants containing a poly(oxyalkylene) copolymer and having a molecular weight of 4000 to 30,000. Such surfactants are retained on the surface of an unused lens for extended periods of time, resulting in surface modification that persists in the eye, thereby providing significant improvement in the wetting properties of fresh contact lenses used for the first time and, moreover, even several hours after lens insertion, preventing dryness and improving lubricity.

Abstract: The invention provides a method for improving the wettability of a medical device, comprising the steps of: (a) providing a medical device formed from a monomer mixture comprising a hydrophilic monomer and a silicone-containing monomer, wherein said medical device has not been subjected to a surface oxidation treatment; (b) contacting a surface of the medical device with a solution comprising a proton-donating wetting agent, whereby the wetting agent forms a complex with the hydrophilic monomer on the surface of the medical device in the absence of a surface oxidation treatment step and without the addition of a coupling agent.

Abstract: A method for separating one mold section from another mold section and a contact lens molded in the two mold sections provides improved reliability that the lens is not damaged during this operation and that the lens is retained selectively on the desired. Various embodiments of apparatus for carrying out the method are disclosed.

Abstract: A process for treating biomedical devices, especially contact lenses, involves contacting polymeric devices containing extractables with a solvent that dissolves and thereby removes the extractables from the device, treating the solvent to remove extractables from the solvent, thereby purifying the solvent, and using the purified solvent to remove additional extractables from polymeric devices.

Abstract: A method for photopolymerizing a monomer mixture to form a lens involves charging to a mold a monomer mixture including lens-forming monomers, and exposing the monomer mixture in the mold to a light source including light in the visible region of the spectrum. The method is useful for monomer mixtures that include a UV-absorbing compound and/or a tinting agent. Preferably, the monomer mixtures include a polymerization initiator including a phosphine oxide moiety.

Abstract: A method of lathing a lens, especially a contact lens, involves attaching the cylindrical blank of lens material to a first block of machineable plastic material, lathe cutting a desired first lens surface in the cylindrical blank, attaching the machined first lens surface of the blank to a second block, lathe cutting to remove the block of machineable plastic material, and lathe cutting a desired second lens surface in the blank. Both the first and second blocks may be adhered to the lens blank with an adhesive curable by ultraviolet radiation, and a two-piece block, composed of a head section and a body section, is disclosed.

Abstract: A novel polyurethane based prepolymer useful in biomedical devices which provides high oxygen permeability and superior physical properties.

Abstract: A mold is disclosed for making rotationally asymmetric contact lenses. The mold comprises a first concave or convex surface that is rotationally asymmetric for forming the surface of the contact lens thereagainst, a second concave or convex surface opposed to the first surface that is also rotationally asymmetric, and a segment of the mold between the first and second surfaces having a substantially uniform thickness.

Abstract: The present invention generally relates to certain hydrophilic polymers. These polymers undergo negligible shrinkage when polymerized and are highly hydrophilic, rendering them useful in a variety of applications.

Abstract: A package assembly includes packages that are connected to a common sheet of lidstock. Various packages are separated from other packages by severing the lidstock between the packages. The packages are supported in depressions in a tray, and the depressions are tapered to facilitate severance of the lidstock.

Abstract: A method of making a lens, such as a contact lens, with a colored portion involves introducing a lens-forming monomer mixture and an ionic colored material to a lens mold, applying an electrical field to the monomer mixture and the colored material, whereby the colored material migrates in response to the electrical field to form a desired pattern, and curing the lens-forming monomer mixture with the colored material forming a desired colored pattern in the lens.

Abstract: The present invention is directed toward a multifocal contact lens having an improved front-surface lens design, which design can be used either as a stand-alone multifocal design for both distance- and near-vision correction or, in combination with a back-surface multifocal design, as a means to provide additional power for near-vision correction. In one embodiment of the invention, the contact lens has a front surface comprising a central elliptical curve, a mid-peripheral polynomial curve, and a lenticular spherical curve.

Abstract: Prepolymers of Formula (I) are useful in hydrogel materials wherein M is a hydrophilic radical derived from at least one hydrophilic ethylenically unsaturated monomer and having a molecular weight of about 500 to 5000; each R is independently selected from an alkylene group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms wherein the carbon atoms may include ether, urethane or ureido linkages therebetween; each R′ is independently selected from hydrogen, monovalent hydrocarbon radicals or halogen substituted monovalent hydrocarbon radicals wherein the hydrocarbon radicals have 1 to 18 carbon atoms which may include ether linkages therebetween; a is an integer equal to or greater than 1; each U is independently a divalent urethane or ureido segment; x is greater than or equal to 1, y is greater than or equal to 1; and z is greater than or equal to 1; and each E is independently a polymerizable, ethylenically unsaturated radical.