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Updated: Jul 4, 2025
Development of an In Vitro Ocular Platform to Test Contact Lenses
Published on: April 6, 2016
In Vitro Evaluation of Soft Contact Lens Wettability With a Nonmodified Commercial Videokeratoscope
Carlos Carpena-Torres1, Elena Ferrando, Carla García-García
1Ocupharm Research Group (C.C.-T., E.F., C.G.-G., M.R., G.C.), Department of Optometry and Vision, Faculty of Optics and Optometry, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain; and Ocupharm Research Group (F.H.-T.), Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Optics and Optometry, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
Purpose:
To evaluate a new in vitro technique for measuring soft contact lens wettability using a nonmodified commercial videokeratoscope, the Medmont E300. To this end, the capability of different artificial tears containing hyaluronic acid (HA) to improve soft contact lens wettability in vitro was investigated.
Methods:
An experimental in vitro study was conducted to assess the wetting properties of three artificial tears containing different concentrations of HA (0.1%, 0.2%, and 0.3%) on soft contact lenses. A saline solution was used as the control. For each solution, 15 hydrogel (Ocufilcon D) contact lenses and 15 silicone-hydrogel (Somofilcon A) contact lenses were evaluated. The in vitro wettability of the lenses was measured using the Medmont E300 with a self-developed technique, which involved measuring the tear film surface quality (TFSQ) mean, TFSQ area, TFSQ central, and TFSQ inferior.
Results:
Compared with the saline solution, all the concentration of HA (0.1%, 0.2%, and 0.3%) improved the in vitro wettability of both soft contact lenses by decreasing their TFSQ mean and TFSQ area ( P <0.05). Regression models revealed an exponential relationship between contact lens wettability and the concentration of HA for both soft contact lenses ( R >0.5, P <0.05). Furthermore, the hydrogel contact lens presented a wetter surface than the silicone-hydrogel contact lens ( P <0.05).
Conclusions:
The measurement of in vitro wettability of soft contact lenses with a nonmodified Medmont E300 seems to be a useful technique to evaluate the wetting properties of contact lens products.
