A. Shirafkan et al., A NOVEL-APPROACH TO MEASURING THE WETTABILITY OF RIGID CONTACT-LENSES- MASS MEASUREMENT OF THE ADHERENT LIQUID ON THE RIGID LENS SURFACE .1., Ophthalmic & physiological optics, 15(6), 1995, pp. 575-583
A novel approach and the equilibrium sessile drop (laser assisted) met
hod were used to determine the wettability of hydrated and unhydrated
PMMA, Polycon II, Boston IV, Equalens and Boston RXD rigid contact len
s materials. In the new method the ability of the contact lens surface
to attract the liquid is evaluated by measuring the adhered mass of l
iquid on the front lens surface. The mass has a direct relationship to
contact lens wettability, so the greater the lens surface hydrophilic
ity the more liquid adheres to the contact lens surface. In the hydrat
ed state, Equalens and Boston IV showed the greatest hydrophilicity of
all five materials, although there was no significant difference betw
een them (P > 0.9). Boston RXD had a lower ability to attract liquid a
nd there was a significant difference between it and the next higher m
aterial which was Boston IV (P < 0.005) and also the next lowest Polyc
on II (P < 0.00001). PMMA had the lowest capability to adhere liquid a
nd there was a significant difference between PMMA and Polycon II (P <
0.00001). The new method is simple and quick to use and gives greater
discrimination and repeatability than other current methods.