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Development of an In Vitro Ocular Platform to Test Contact Lenses
Published on: April 6, 2016
Low-cost geometry-tunable PDMS intraocular lenses fabricated using LCD 3D-printed molds for canine ophthalmic
Suwat Romphosri1, Anya Chiradejnant2, Titima Lertsrisatit3
1International School of Engineering, Biomedical Materials and Devices for Revolutionary Integrative Systems Engineering Research Unit, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
Abstract:
This study demonstrates the feasibility of fabricating geometry-tunable polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) intraocular lens (IOL) prototypes using consumer-grade liquid crystal display (LCD) 3D-printed molds and PDMS casting. A reusable mold fabrication strategy incorporating a PMMA barrier layer successfully eliminated PDMS curing inhibition while preserving the mold geometry for repeated casting. The fabrication workflow accurately replicated a plate-haptic lens with a 6 mm optic and dimensional deviation below 1.5%, while enabling optical power to be tuned from 18 to 42 D by varying mold curvature alone. The fabricated PDMS IOLs exhibited high visible-light transparency (>95%), preliminary focusing ability, resolving power and image contrast comparable to a commercial IOL, acceptable post-treatment cytocompatibility, successful injector-assisted delivery with recovery of the original geometry, and preliminary hydrolytic stability and leachability performance. These results establish a reproducible, low-cost, and customizable fabrication platform for PDMS intraocular lenses and provide a foundation for future optimization toward customizable veterinary ophthalmic applications.

