Study of A Novel Nanofiber-Containing Ring- Im-planted Contact Lens for Corneal Sustained Delivery of Hyaluronic Acid

Objective: Dry eye syndrome, as a kind of persist corneal epi-thelial defect (PED), is an inconvenient ocular disorder that is generally treated by high-dosage, conventional eye drops. Ad-dressing low efficacy, and bioavailability of conventional eye drops, drug-containing contact lenses are widely used as alter-natives for eye drops in ophthalmic drug delivery applications. Materials and Methods: In the present study, a novel nanofib-er-containing ring implant poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogel is used as a carrier for hyaluronic acid (HA) delivery. HA is physically encapsulated in a nanofiber-containing ring-shaped hydrogel with a ۲ mm width that is implanted in the final con-tact lens hydrogel.Results: The designed contact lens has ۵۹% porosity, ۲۷۵% swelling ration, more than ۹۵% transparency, and no weight loss in physiological condition. In vitro release studies are performed with implanted contact lenses with and without na-nofibers. Nanofiber incorporation in the designed contact lens was highly effective in decreasing burst release and sustaining the release over ۱۴ days. In addition, nanofiber incorporation in the designed contact lens not only circumvent the changes in optical and physical properties, such as transparency, of the hydrogel, also strengthen its physical stability and increased the young modulus of the PVA hydrogel from ۶ to ۱۰ kPa. Cellular studies also revealed no cell cytotoxicity and cell attachment. Conclusion: The study demonstrated the effective role of na-nofiber in strengthening contact lens's physical stability, and also the promising potential of the designed contact lens to de-liver HA for an extended period of time.