Maria Helena Gil
University of Coimbra, Portugal
Title: Polymeric materials for ophthalmological applications
Biography
Biography: Maria Helena Gil
Abstract
Nowadays, both synthetic and natural polymeric materials have been applied in the ophthalmologic area. In our group some work has been done on the development of intraocular lenses (IOLs) as well as on soft contact lenses (SCLs) for endophthalmitis prophylaxis in cataract surgery and implantable disks for glaucoma treatment. The use of ocular controlled drug delivery systems after ocular surgery is being used as an alternative to the usual eye drop administration. The development of SCLs based on acrylic monomers for this purpose is the subject of our more recent study. Some membranes were prepared by bulk polymerization using different monomers, such as ethylhexyl methacrylate, methyl methacrylic acid and a crosslinking agent, and were characterized physical and chemically. To increase their performance as drug delivery systems, the surface membranes were also modified by using either graft copolymerization or plasma treatment. All the copolymers were loaded with several ophthalmologic drugs and used for drug release studies.