Efficient Drug-Eluting Contact Lenses Can Absorb A Hydrophobic Ocular Drug

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The purpose of this research is to demonstrate how fast and efficient drug-eluting contact lenses can absorb a hydrophobic ocular drug such as latanoprost as an alternative treatment method. Eye diseases are increasingly leading to blindness, with glaucoma, for instance, affecting three point five percent of the population. While treatment relies on eye-drops, it experiences challenges of poor compliance and drug inefficiency, hence the need for an alternative.
The research utilizes quantitative experimental research method whereby, lenses made of silicone hydrogel; latanoprost drug and deionized water determine the quantity of latanoprost present in lenses, by measuring the amount of solution the lenses can absorb and retain after immersing it in the n-propanol concentration of different levels and rinsing it in water. The experiment lasts for one week where samples of four solutions stand in intervals of one, two, and four respectively in a lab (Horne, Judd & Pitt, 2017, pp. 411).
The research showed that the amounts of latanoprost loaded different times, one, two and four minutes respectively, moved proportionally to the drug concentration of one to nine mg/ml and stopped after four minutes (Horne, Judd & Pitt, 2017, pp. 412). The contact lenses absorbed the drug 1.3 times its original size causing it to swell but, when dipped in water, it shrunk back to its concave shape but more significant in volume. The lenses retained 78 percent of latanoprost drug while its release to an eye approximately lasted for four days at 2.9 dosages per day compared to the 1.5 dosages of daily eye drop (Horne, Judd & Pitt, 2017, pp. 413-414).
The research concluded that the silicone hydrogel contact lenses were ideal for loading and delivery of hydrophobic drugs. The latanoprost drug was a favorable hydrophobic drug as its absorption rate...