Fabrication of Contact Lens Device with Integrated Microtubes for in Situ Extended Drug Delivery for Ocular Disease Treatment

Abstract

Drug delivery is a difficult task in ocular therapeutics due to the physiological and anatomical constraints of the eye. The correct therapeutic concentration of a drug at the required site of action is difficult to obtain. For instance, only <1% of a topically administered drug reaches the aqueous humor. Herein, we report a new type of contact lens device with integrated microtubes as drug containers, which can provide a simple, noninvasive, extended drug release up to 40 days with higher bioavailability and lower risk for adverse effects.