3D-printed hydrogel enables continuous drug delivery via contact lens
Medical Xpress November 29, 2024
The next time you need to take a prescription drug, taking it might be as easy as putting on a contact lens, thanks to a new discovery made by University of Waterloo researchers.
The team of researchers—which spans Waterloo’s Department of Chemistry and its School of Optometry and Vision Science—created a new type of hydrogel that can deliver drugs to patients with various eye issues when 3D printed onto a contact lens.
The paper, “Injectable and 3D Extrusion Printable Hydrophilic Silicone-Based Hydrogels for Controlled Ocular Delivery of Ophthalmic Drugs,” was published in ACS Applied Bio Materials.
The hydrogel, a type of gel that can retain significant volumes of water, is silicone-based and can help control the amount of medication a...