Surface treatment of biomedical devices

Abstract

A surface modified biomedical device is provided comprising a biomedical device having a coating on at least a portion thereof, the coating comprising a polymer or copolymer having one or more repeating units of the formula: wherein R independently is a C 2 -C 20 hydrocarbon radical and n is an integer of 2 to 5000.

1 . A method for improving the wettability of a biomedical device, the method comprising the step of contacting a surface of the biomedical device with a composition comprising a polymer or copolymer having one or more repeating units of the formula: 
       
         
           
           
               
               
           
         
         wherein R independently is a C 2 -C 20  hydrocarbon radical and n is an integer of 2 to 5000. 
       
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the biomedical device is a contact lens. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the biomedical device is a silicone hydrogel contact lens. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein R is a C 2 -C 6  straight chain or branched alkyl group. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein R is an ethyl or propyl group. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the polymer or copolymer is obtained from the polymerization or copolymerization of a monomeric mixture comprising one or more C 2 -C 6  straight chain, branched, and cyclic 2-alpha-alkyl acrylic acids. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the monomeric mixture further comprises one or more hydrophilic monomers. 
     
     
         8 . A surface modified biomedical device comprising a biomedical device having a coating on a surface thereof, the coating comprising a polymer or copolymer having one or more repeating units of the formula: 
       
         
           
           
               
               
           
         
         wherein R independently is a C 2 -C 20  hydrocarbon radical and n is an integer of 2 to 5000. 
       
     
     
         9 . The surface modified biomedical device of  claim 8 , wherein the biomedical device is a contact lens. 
     
     
         10 . The surface modified biomedical device of  claim 8 , wherein the biomedical device is a silicone hydrogel contact lens. 
     
     
         11 . The surface modified biomedical device of  claim 8 , wherein R is a C 2 -C 6  straight chain or branched alkyl group. 
     
     
         12 . The surface modified biomedical device of  claim 8 , wherein R is an ethyl or propyl group. 
     
     
         13 . The surface modified biomedical device of  claim 8 , wherein the polymer or copolymer is obtained from the polymerization or copolymerization of a monomeric mixture comprising one or more C 2 -C 6  straight chain, branched, and cyclic 2-alpha-alkyl acrylic acids. 
     
     
         14 . The surface modified biomedical device of  claim 13 , wherein the monomeric mixture further comprises one or more hydrophilic monomers.