Preparation of Nanoparticle‐Containing Ring‐Implanted Poly(Vinyl Alcohol) Contact Lens for Sustained Release of Hyaluronic Acid

Abstract Here, a novel ring‐implanted poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) contact lens (CL) is fabricated and evaluated as a therapeutic CL with potential of sustained release of hyaluronic acid (HA). HA is loaded on chitosan (CS) nanoparticles (NPs) and then the HA‐loaded NPs are dispersed in a ring shape PVA hydrogel which is implanted in the final PVA CL. Results show that HA is successfully loaded on NPs (520 ± 18 nm) with loading efficacy of 87% and loading capacity of 50%. The CL hydrogel has a 275% swelling ratio, no degradation during 14 days, 97% light transmittance, and desirable rheological stability under physiological shear force. The release data show a sustained release for HA from the ring implanted CL up to 14 days. The cellular study reveals no corneal epithelial cell cytotoxicity and cell attachment on the CL. The study demonstrates the successful application of the ring‐implanted CL to sustain the delivery of HA for treating the dry eye syndrome.