Selectively coated contact lenses by nanoelectrospray (nES) to fabricate drug-eluting contact lenses for treating ocular diseases

• Published in: Medical engineering & physics 2024-02, Vol.124, p.104110, Article 104110
• Main Authors: Tam, Chak Hin, Alexander, Matthew S., Sanderson, Julie, Qi, Sheng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bimatoprost; Contact Lenses; Controlled drug delivery; Drug Delivery Systems; Drug-eluting contact lenses; Ketotifen - chemistry; Ketotifen fumarate; Latanoprost; Nanoelectrospray; Ocular drug delivery; Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)
• ISSN: 1350-4533; 1873-4030; 1873-4030
• DOI: 10.1016/j.medengphy.2024.104110

•Nanoelectrospray, (nES), first of its kind drug deposition method for producing drug-eluting contact lenses directly using commercial off-the-shelf contact lenses.•Accurate drug deposition with few to tens of µg.•Precise deposition of the drug on the special location on the surfaces of the contact lenses.•Three model drugs, covering a wide range of hydrophilicity, were tested and all successfully loaded on to the lenses using nES.•In vitro drug release kinetics of drug loaded lenses were found to be highly drug and polymer carrier dependent.•Steam sterilisation is not suitable for coatings with PLGA being the carrier polymer and radiation sterilisation, as an alternative, was recommended. Drug-eluting contact lenses (DECLs) incorporated with poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) and various model drugs (ketotifen fumarate, bimatoprost and latanoprost) were fabricated using nanoelectrospray (nES) approach. The resulting DECLs demonstrated outstanding optical transmittance within the optical zone, indicating that the employed coating procedure did not compromise visual acuity under the prescribed spraying parameters. In vitro drug release assessments of the model drugs (ketotifen fumarate (KF), bimatoprost (BIM), and latanoprost (LN)) revealed a strong correlation between the model drug's hydrophobicity and the duration of drug release. Changing the drug loading of the more hydrophilic model drugs, BIM and KF, showed no impact on the drug release kinetics of DECLs loaded with BIM and KF. However, for the hydrophobic model drug, LN, the highest LN loading led to the most extended drug release. The conventional steam sterilisation method was found to damage the PLGA coating on the DECLs fabricated by nES. An alternative sterilisation strategy, such as radiation sterilisation may need to be investigated in the future study to minimise potential harm to the coating.