Biocompatibility and cytotoxicity study of nanophotonic rigid gas permeable contact lens material

Since materials on nanoscale have different characteristics from materials on macro scale their biocompatibility should be precisely and specifically investigated. Fullerenes, the third carbon allotrope, are one of the most used nanomaterials. The least stable and the most common is fullerene C60. One of the main disadvantages of fullerene is its low solubility in water. In order to make it soluble, it must be functionalized with polar groups such as -OH and -COOH. From all the water soluble fullerenes the most important ones are those with -OH groups attached named fullerols. We have developed new materials for contact lenses by adding fullerene (C60) and fullerol (C60(OH)24) into PMMA. The aim of our investigation was to compare the influences of those materials on aqueous solutions similar to tear film. For the analysis of the solutions we used opto-magnetic imaging and IR spectroscopy. The acquired spectrums were commented and compared with the standard contact lens material, which was analyzed by the same methods. The ISO 10993 cytotoxicity test on extract of nanophotonic material with incorporated C60 was done as well. This research contributes to better understanding of the biocompatibility of new rigid gas permeable contact lens materials.