Surface analysis of biomedical polymers by attenuated total reflectance-fourier transform infra-red

An infra- red approach has been developed to characterize hydrophilic biomaterials, particularly contact lenses. Water was utilized as the optical coupling agent between the sample and the ATR element. This method enables the study of hydrophilic polymers in their natural aqueous environment and simultaneously solves the optical contact problem that usually arises when the ATR technique is used. Some studies were made utilizing this approach: dry and hydrated samples were structurally compared; also, a depth profiling study and a surface comparison were made on soft contact lenses fabricated by different industrial processes. Finally, the three dimensional orientation of one hydrated structure was characterized.