Abstract
To study the optical changes on hydrogel-silicone intraocular lenses (IOLs) resulting from loading them with dexamethasone. We used prototype hydrogel(pHEMA)-silicone IOLs and loaded the matrices with an anti-inflammatory drug (dexamethasone). The optical properties we analyzed experimentally were a) modulation transfer function (MTF); b) spectral transmission; c) diopter power. These determinations were performed on drug-loaded IOLs, IOLs that had released the drug, and IOLs that had not been drug-loaded. Loading a hydrogel-silicone IOL with dexamethasone results in impairment of its optical qualities, in particular its MTF and spectral transmission, but not dioptric power. However, once the drug has been released, it almost recovers its initial optical properties.
Highlights
Cataract surgery is one of the most common operations carried out on the elderly population in developed countries
Felipe et al [22] and Alarcon et al [23] emphasize how non-predictive this ISO standard is since it only takes one spatial frequency (100 c/mm) as a parameter. This is why we determined the Average Modulation (AM) [11,20,21] which is the mean value of the modulation transfer function (MTF) calculated from 0 to 100 c/mm, and the Strehl Ratio which is a parameter used classically for quantifying aberration effects
The MTFs corresponding to the dexamethasone-loaded intraocular lenses (IOL) and 3 mm pupils (Fig. 2) are quite distant from those of a perfect optical system, i.e., only limited by diffraction, their quality is poor
Summary
Cataract surgery is one of the most common operations carried out on the elderly population in developed countries. The cornea is a highly effective barrier and it considerably hinders the penetration of the drug administered in this way. After instillation of an ophthalmic drop, less than 5% of the drug penetrates the cornea and reaches the intraocular tissue since most of it is absorbed systematically through the conjunctiva and nasolacrimal duct, which in turn can give rise to serious secondary effects. Most people who suffer from cataracts, especially elderly people or those who suffer from arthritis, find it very difficult to administer eye drops correctly, which makes the effectiveness of the treatment even lower. As a result of all of these factors, many patients do not follow the established therapeutic treatment properly or they discontinue the treatment which considerably increases the risk of ocular complications
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