(93ak) Polymerization Reaction Analysis to Enhance Loading of Hydrogels for Ocular Drug Delivery

Non covalent complexation interactions between template or ?guest? biomolecules and functional monomers during polymerization can create binding sites for biomolecules within polymeric networks. These configurational biomimetic networks have numerous applications upon integration at the micro/nano-scale such as sensing elements in biosensors, intelligent drug delivery devices and films, and biological assays. Within the field of drug delivery, similar mechanisms can produce hydrogels with significantly enhanced loading of therapeutic molecules.

This work highlights polymerization reaction analysis during the formation of drug-loaded soft contact lenses which are shown to greatly enhance ocular drug delivery. Compositional parameters such as the template to functional monomer ratio and chemical functionality of monomers were varied to optimize drug loading within polymer networks. The results demonstrate the formation of polymer chains and enhanced loading due to the configurational biomimetic effect may be related and predicted by the propagation of polymer chains.