Method for determining the surface concentration of carboxyl groups on a lens

1. A method for determining the thickness of carboxyl group-containing on the surfaces of silicone hydrogel contact lenses comprising the steps of:

(a) obtaining silicone hydrogel contact lenses each of which comprises a silicone hydrogel lens body and a coating thereon, wherein the silicone hydrogel lens body is obtained from a lens formulation free of any polymerizable component including one or more carboxyl groups, wherein the coating comprises a polymer having carboxyl groups;

(b) drying the silicone hydrogel contact lenses;

(c) selectively staining the coatings over the lens bodies of a given number of the dry silicone hydrogel contact lenses by first immersing them in a fixed volume of a C 1 -C 4 alcohol solution of a positively-charged dye having acetate as its counter anion at a given initial concentration for a time period of from about one hour to about 24 hours and then washing them in a consecutive order with ethanol, a mixture of ethanol/water at a ratio of 50%/50% by volume, and water to achieve staining the coating without out staining the lens body;

(d) orthogonally cutting the silicone hydrogel contact lenses and the selectively stained coating; and

(e) determining the thickness of the coating on the silicone hydrogel contact lens.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the positively-charged dye having acetate as its counter anion is thionin acetate.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the C 1 -C 4 alcohol solution of the positively charged dye is prepared by dissolving a desired amount of the dye in a C 1 -C 4 alcohol which is methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, isopropanol, or a mixture thereof.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the C 1 -C 4 alcohol is ethanol.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the C 1 -C 4 alcohol solution of the positively charged dye is prepared by dissolving a desired amount of the dye in a C 1 -C 4 alcohol which is methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, isopropanol, or a mixture thereof.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein in step (b) at least 3 silicone hydrogel contact lenses are immersed in the C 1 -C 4 alcohol solution of the positively-charged dye.

7. A method for selecting a candidate polymer comprising carboxyl groups as a coating material for silicone hydrogel contact lenses, comprising the steps of:

(a) obtaining uncoated silicone hydrogel contact lenses each of which comprises a silicone hydrogel lens body obtained from a lens formulation free of any polymerizable component including one or more carboxyl groups;

(b) obtaining candidate polymers each having carboxyl groups;

(c) applying a coating of each candidate polymer onto each silicone hydrogel contact lenses to obtain coated silicone hydrogel contact lenses under identical coating conditions;

(d) drying the coated silicone hydrogel contact lenses;

(e) selectively staining the coatings over the lens bodies of a given number of the coated silicone hydrogel contact lenses for each candidate polymers by immersing them in a fixed volume of a C 1 -C 4 alcohol solution of a positively-charged dye having acetate as its counter anion at a given initial concentration for a time period of from about one hour to about 24 hours and then washing them in a consecutive order with ethanol, a mixture of ethanol/water at a ratio of 50%/50% by volume, and water to achieve staining the coating without out staining the lens body;

(f) orthogonally cutting the silicone hydrogel contact lenses and the selectively stained coating;

(g) determining the thickness of the coating on each coated silicone hydrogel contact lens for each candidate polymers; and

(h) selecting one candidate polymer that provides coated silicone hydrogel contact lens having the desired coating thickness.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the positively-charged dye having acetate as its counter anion is thionin acetate.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the C 1 -C 4 alcohol solution of the positively charged dye is prepared by dissolving a desired amount of the dye in a C 1 -C 4 alcohol which is methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, isopropanol, or a mixture thereof.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the C 1 -C 4 alcohol is ethanol.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein in step (d) at least at least 3 silicone hydrogel contact lenses are immersed in the C 1 -C 4 alcohol solution of the positively-charged dye.

12. A method for optimizing a coating process for producing silicone hydrogel contact lenses with a coating thereon, comprising the steps of:

(a) obtaining uncoated silicone hydrogel contact lenses each of which comprises a silicone hydrogel lens body obtained from a lens formulation free of any polymerizable component including one or more carboxyl groups;

(b) obtaining a polymer having carboxyl groups;

(c) applying a coating of the polymer onto each silicone hydrogel contact lenses to obtain coated silicone hydrogel contact lenses under first coating conditions;

(d) immersing a given number of the coated silicone hydrogel contact lenses in a fixed volume of a C 1 -C 4 alcohol solution of a positively-charged dye having acetate as its counter anion at a given initial concentration for a time period sufficient to stain the silicone hydrogel contact lens;

(e) drying the coated silicone hydrogel contact lenses;

(f) selectively staining the coatings over the lens bodies of a given number of the dry coated silicone hydrogel contact lenses by first immersing them immersing them in a fixed volume of a C 1 -C 4 alcohol solution of a positively-charged dye having acetate as its counter anion at a given initial concentration for a time period of from about one hour to about 24 hours and then washing them in a consecutive order with ethanol, a mixture of ethanol/water at a ratio of 50%/50% by volume, and water to achieve staining the coating without out staining the lens body;

(g) orthogonally cutting the silicone hydrogel contact lenses and the selectively stained coating;

(h) determining the thickness of the coating on each coated silicone hydrogel contact lens;

(i) if the thickness determined in step (h) of the coating on each coated silicone hydrogel contact lens is thinner than a predetermined thickness criteria, repeating optimization cycles each consisting of steps (b) to (h) until the thickness of the coating on each coated silicone hydrogel contact lens meet the criteria, provided that coating conditions in step (b) is changed in each optimization repeating cycle.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the positively-charged dye having acetate as its counter anion is thionin acetate.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the C 1 -C 4 alcohol solution of the positively charged dye is prepared by dissolving a desired amount of the dye in a C 1 -C 4 alcohol which is methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, isopropanol, or a mixture thereof.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the C 1 -C 4 alcohol is ethanol.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein in step (d) at least at least 3 silicone hydrogel contact lenses are immersed in the C 1 -C 4 alcohol solution of the positively-charged dye.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein the thickness criteria of a carboxyl-containing coating is one value selected from about 0.1 to about 20 micrometers, whereas the surface concentration criteria of carboxyl groups on a coated contact lens is about 200 nano-moles per lens.