Claims
- 1. A polymeric hydrogel having a water content of between 37.5% and 75% comprising a substantially pure growth factor.
- 2. The hydrogel of claim 1, wherein said growth factor is selected from the group consisting of epidermal growth factor, platelet derived growth factor, hepatocytic growth factor, human growth hormone, fibroblast growth factor, and combinations thereof.
- 3. The hydrogel of claim 2, wherein said growth factor is epidermal growth factor or human growth hormone.
- 4. The hydrogel of claim 1, said hydrogel comprising a tetrapolymer of hydroxymethylmethacrylate, ethylene glycol, dimethylmethacrylate, and methacrylic acid.
- 5. The hydrogel of claim 1, wherein said growth factor is capable of being passively released into an environment under ambient conditions.
- 6. The hydrogel of claim 5, wherein said environment is an ocular environment.
- 7. The hydrogel of claim 1, wherein said growth factor is capable of being passively released into an environment under existing conditions.
- 8. The hydrogel of claim 7, wherein said environment is an ocular environment.
- 9. The hydrogel of claim 1, wherein said hydrogel is shaped as a contact lens.
- 10. The hydrogel of claim 9, wherein said hydrogel is capable of correcting vision.
- 11. The hydrogel of claim 10, wherein said hydrogel is capable of correcting vision in the range of +8.0 to −8.0 diopters, including plano.
- 12. The hydrogel of claim 10, said hydrogel having a base curve between 8.0 and 9.0.
- 13. The hydrogel of claim 1, said hydrogel comprising an ionic polymer.
- 14. The hydrogel of claim 1, said hydrogel comprising a non-ionic polymer.
- 15. The hydrogel of claim 1, said hydrogel comprising etafilcon A, vifilcon A, polymacon B, lidofilcon A, or vasurfilcon A.
- 16. The hydrogel of claim 1, further comprising an anti-inflammatory compound.
- 17. The hydrogel of claim 16, wherein said anti-inflammatory compound is dexamethasone, fluorometholone, rimexolone, or prednisolone.
- 18. A polymeric hydrogel comprising a substantially pure growth factor, wherein said hydrogel is selected from the group consisting of etafilcon A, vifilcon A, polymacon B, lidofilcon A, and vasurfilcon A.
- 19. A polymeric hydrogel comprising a substantially pure growth factor at a concentration of between 5 and 350 ppb and an anti-inflammatory compound.
- 20. The hydrogel of claim 19, wherein said anti-inflammatory compound is dexamethasone, fluorometholone, rimexolone, or prednisolone.
- 21. A method for making a hydrogel drug delivery system, said method comprising placing a hydrogel in an aqueous solution of between 0.01 and 10 ng of a substantially pure growth factor per μL,
wherein growth factor is passively transferred into said hydrogel in a therapeutically effective amount.
- 22. The method of claim 21, wherein the concentration of growth factor passively transferred to said hydrogel is between 5 and 350 ppb.
- 23. The method of claim 21, wherein said growth factor is selected from the group consisting of epidermal growth factor, platelet derived growth factor, hepatocytic growth factor, human growth hormone, fibroblast growth factor, and combinations thereof.
- 24. The method of claim 23, wherein said growth factor is epidermal growth factor.
- 25. The method of claim 21, wherein said aqueous solution has a pH between 6.9 and 7.4
- 26. The method of claim 21, wherein said hydrogel is shaped as a contact lens.
- 27. The method of claim 21 wherein said hydrogel is placed in said solution for at least 30 minutes.
- 28. The method of 21, wherein said aqueous solution further comprises an anti-inflammatory compound.
- 29. The method of 28, wherein said anti-inflammatory compound is dexamethasone, fluorometholone, rimexolone, or prednisolone.
- 30. A method for treating a wound, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) providing a polymeric hydrogel having a water content of between 37.5% and 75% comprising a substantially pure growth factor; and (b) placing said hydrogel in contact with said wound, wherein said growth factor is passively released from said hydrogel to treat said wound.
- 31. The method of claim 30, wherein said hydrogel passively releases at least 0.01, 0.05, 0.5, 1, 10, 15, or 20 μg of said growth factor.
- 32. The method of claim 30, wherein said hydrogel is placed in contact with said wound for at least 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 15, or 24 hours.
- 33. The method of claim 30, wherein said growth factor is selected from the group consisting of epidermal growth factor, platelet derived growth factor, hepatocytic growth factor, human growth hormone, fibroblast growth factor, and combinations thereof.
- 34. The method of claim 33, wherein said growth factor is epidermal growth factor.
- 35. The method of claim 30, wherein said wound is in an eye and said hydrogel is shaped as a contact lens.
- 36. The method of claim 35, wherein said hydrogel further acts as a protective shield against mechanical abuse.
- 37. The method of claim 30, wherein said wound is in endothelial tissue.
- 38. The method of claim 30, wherein said wound is in epithelial tissue.
- 39. The method of claim 30, wherein said wound is a lung, skin, or digestive tract wound.
- 40. The method of claim 30, wherein, in step (b), the hydrogel is placed in a body cavity.
- 41. The method of claim 30, wherein said passively released growth factor causes a reduction in pain compared to a wound not contacted with said polymeric hydrogel.
- 42. A method for treating a wound, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) providing a polymeric hydrogel comprising a substantially pure growth factor, wherein said hydrogel is selected from the group consisting of etafilcon A, vifilcon A, polymacon B, lidofilcon A, and vasurfilcon A; and (b) placing said hydrogel in contact with said wound, wherein said growth factor is passively released from said hydrogel to treat said wound.
- 43. A method for treating a wound, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) providing a polymeric hydrogel comprising between 5 and 350 ppb by weight of a substantially pure growth factor and an anti-inflammatory compound; and (b) placing said hydrogel in contact with said wound, wherein said growth factor is passively released from said hydrogel to treat said wound.
- 44. The method of claim 43, wherein said anti-inflammatory compound is dexamethasone, fluorometholone, rimexolone, or prednisolone.
- 45. A method of delivering a growth factor, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) placing a polymeric hydrogel comprising a substantially pure growth factor in contact with a wound that is in contact with a replenishable bodily fluid; and (b) allowing said growth factor to release passively from said hydrogel into said replenishable bodily fluid, wherein the release of said growth factor from said hydrogel into said replenishable bodily fluid is accelerated compared to the release of said growth factor from said hydrogel into a non-replenishable bodily fluid.
- 46. The method of claim 45, wherein said hydrogel has a water content of between 37.5% and 75%.
- 47. The method of claim 46, wherein said hydrogel is etafilcon A, vifilcon A, polymacon B, lidofilcon A, or vasurfilcon A.
- 48. The method of claim 46, wherein said growth factor is selected from the group consisting of epidermal growth factor, platelet derived growth factor, hepatocytic growth factor, human growth hormone, fibroblast growth factor, and combinations thereof.
- 49. The method of claim 46, wherein said hydrogel further comprises a anti-inflammatory compound.
- 50. The method of claim 49, wherein said anti-inflammatory compound is dexamethasone, fluorometholone, rimexolone, or prednisolone.
- 51. A polymeric hydrogel having a water content of between 37.5% and 75% comprising an anti-inflammatory compound.
- 52. The polymeric hydrogel of claim 51, wherein said anti-inflammatory compound is dexamethasone, fluorometholone, rimexolone, or prednisolone.
- 53. The polymeric hydrogel of claim 51, wherein said anti-inflammatory compound is present as a concentration of at least 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, 15, 30, 50, or 100 ppm.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/132,843, filed Apr. 25, 2002, hereby incorporated by reference.
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10132843 |
Apr 2002 |
US |
Child |
10340434 |
Jan 2003 |
US |