Contact lens - for medicament application

(74) Agent: Simonnot, Rinuy, Santarelli.

(54) Contact lens for applying medication to the eye.

72) Invention of:

(33) (32) (æi) Conventional priority

Sale of booklets at IMPRIMERIE NATIONALE, 27, rue de la Convention - PARIS (15^e)

44385

20/1223

The present invention relates to a device used as a medicator for treating the eye, and which uses a contact lens for this purpose.

In practice, medical or therapeutic treatment of the eye usually consists of using dropper or pipettes, bandages or bands or the like. Drugs that are applied directly to the eye using * dropper are no t used at best because tears or eye fluids that gradually form mixtures with these drugs produce an exaggerated dilution or immediate removal by washing to an extent which considerably reduces the medical effects. In addition, the use of a lens according to the invention fulfills the combined functions of vehicle or drug supply device, of a protection device during infection or adhesion conditions between the eyelid and the cornea. and protection against the contrary effects for the sick eye of atmospheric elements and harmful foreign bodies entrained by them.

Consequently, the object of the present invention is to provide a transparent and protective device for the eye in the form of a contact lens provided with means serving to carry and gradually supply or dispense a medicament or a drug intended to be absorbed by the eye fluid following a continuous or progressive operation. The repeated and progressive supply of the drug or drug to the eye effectq / frar this means results in greater efficiency and greater power of the drug to obtain its desired therapeutic and analgesic effects.

As described below, the medicament can be carried directly by a socket forming a physical element of the lens or by a band in the form of a mounted channel. the interior of the cell as a support. In addition, the outlet or slot for drugs can be closed by a fluid-permeable or removable closure or cover; heating and cooling means can, if desired, be arranged in the body of the lens in the vicinity of the cell or channel in which the medicament is located.

Other advantages and characteristics of the present invention will emerge during the detailed description which follows, made with reference to the appended drawing which gives as

BAD ORIGINAL

44Jb0

ZU! ! AAU

- 2 explanatory, but in no way limiting, several embodiments in accordance with the invention.

On this drawing,

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a medicament applicator in the form of a contact lens;

The Pig. 2 is a large-scale section along line 2-2 of the Pig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

The Pig. 3 is a similar section showing the alveolus of the lens fitted with a strip containing a medicament;

The Pig. 4 is a section, in perspective, of the strip containing the medicament;

The Pig. 5 is a section of the strip provided with a closure means at its top;

Fig. 6 shows the strip containing the medicament comprising a tube intended for a refrigerant; and

The Pig. 7 shows a similar strip containing a heating means.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown a lens (b contact 1, preferably of the corneal type, which is constituted by a transparent and soft plastic material such as polyvinyl chloride or any other inert thermoplastic composition. In the vicinity of the central region 2 of the lens and along its periphery, means are used to dispense medication to the eye. The lens can have any necessary correction effects at will, or it can be used only as an applicator without any vision correction characteristics.

The present invention can be applied to all types of contact lenses, but as described here, it uses a lens structure described in detail in United States Patent Application No. 564,268 July 11, 1966 by Alexandre Mencber. It should be observed that the lens 1, inside and in the vicinity of the edge, is provided with protrusions 3 serving as support and as spacing means, as described in the patent application of the United States of America cited above.

As shown, the interior of the lens, at the outer limit of its central region 2, is provided with an annular groove or alveolus 4 containing a drug 5. Such a drug can be in the form of a liquid, as original reprébad

44385

- 3 2071223 feel, or. well in the form of a paste, a powder, etc ... and be constituted by any material which may be necessary for a particular treatment of the eye. The socket 4 has a continuous outlet opening or slot 6 preferably arranged at its top to allow the fluid of the eye to access the medicament 5 located in the socket so as to effect a mixture or a solution.

In Figs. 1 and 2, the drug 5 is shown as being contained directly by the cell 4 of the lens.

In Figs. 4 and 5 ”the medicament 5 is contained in a separate strip 7 in the form of a channel which is fitted tightly inside the socket 4 of the lens. This strip can be of any suitable material such as an inert plastic and it is provided with a slit opening 8 at its top through which the fluid of the eye can access or communicate with the drug which it contains. With the aid of such an arrangement, the filling of the recess 4 or the replacement of the medicament therein is simplified by the fact that it suffices simply to introduce the strip filled with medicament into the recess 4 of the lens. At will, on the strip 7, when it is supplied, the slot or open top 8 can be closed or covered by a removable cover which can be torn off when the strip is introduced into the cell 4, as seen on Fig. 5. In this way, the open top or slit 8 is represented as being closed by a covering element or insert 9. Such a cover element or insert can be made of a material permeable to liquid in order to allow the fluid of the eye to penetrate and reach the drug to dissolve it, or else the cover or closure element 9 can be made so that it can be easily removed when the strip 7 is introduced into the cell 4. It is also possible to form the closure 9 with an inert soluble material.

In Fig. 6, there is shown a strip 7 containing a medicament 5 and which is provided along its length with a removable tube inserted or embedded 10 containing a refrigerant 11 intended to be used in cases where the application of cold to the eye is necessary during the use of the drug.

In Fig. 7, there is shown a strip 7 in the form of a channel in which is embedded a coil 12 of electric heating69 44385

2U7 I225 that. The coil can receive the necessary heating current from a battery or by induction and it can be used when it is desirable to apply heat to the eye.

The arrangements described are such that the contact lens can be used both to correct vision and to deliver the drug, or it can be used only as an applicator.

When the lens (1) which preferably has a flexible central part (2) is adjusted to the eye, it is spaced therefrom and is supported by means of the protuberances 3 which are spaced apart in order to form channels for collecting and making circulate the eye fluid behind the lens. Gradual mixing and circulation takes place with the drug 5. In addition, lens 1 with its fluid collection device, with or without the drug, helps correct astigmatism and irregularities in the comeal surface and ensures that the lens can be worn comfortably. The structure according to the invention can be used in conditions of edema produced by colds, menstrual periods or fluid imbalances, and the lens can be used as protection in conditions of infection or adhesion between the eyelid and the cornea.

The arrangement described is such that a lens of this type can be produced economically and therefore can be sold at a low price to be discarded after a relatively short period of use. The structure of the lens is such that its adjustment is considerably simplified and that it can be adjusted quickly by any person having little optical experience. ·

The applicator 1 may include a corrective lens intended to be mounted in a hollow in the central region 2. In addition, the structure of the applicator which has been described above can be applied to artificial corneas such as those described in the U.S. Patent No. 2,952,023.

It goes without saying that the present invention has only been described and shown as a splicative, but in no way limiting, and that it is capable of various variants without going beyond its ambit.

44385

- 5 2071223