Effects of temperature and conditioning on contact lens wetting angles

Because wettability is not always examined under standard conditions, we investigated the temperature dependence of saline wettability on unconditioned and conditioned polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB), and three silicone acrylate lens materials. Sessile drop contact angles were measured in a humidity chamber at 23 degrees C and 34 degrees C using laser-assisted contact angle goniometry. In separate experiments, saline-stored and preconditioned lenses were examined either with or without rinsing. Sessile drop contact angles at 34 degrees C were within 2 degrees to 5 degrees of the room temperature values for both conditioned and unconditioned lenses, demonstrating a negligible temperature dependence. At both temperatures, the conditioned PMMA, CAB, silafocon A, and pasifocon C lenses wet slightly better, by 1 degree to 12 degrees, than unconditioned lenses. However, this increase was only significant with PMMA and silafocon A (P less than 0.05) and reversed when the preconditioned lenses were rinsed repeatedly in saline and reexamined. The results suggest that for these materials: 1) in vitro saline contact angles do not approach those seen on the eye, and this discrepancy can not be explained by temperature or conditioning; and 2) conditioning does not increase material wettability but merely forms a temporary hydrophilic interface that is more wettable than the lens material.