Evaluation of Adherence to Contact Lens Materials.

Bacterial keratitis is a risk associated with the use of contact lenses for cosmetic purposes or vision correction. In this in vitro experimental study, we examined the ability of the ocular pathogen to adhere to monthly or biweekly replacement contact lenses. We performed quantitative adhesion assays to evaluate the adherence of to seven contact lens materials: comfilcon A, senofilcon A, omafilcon B, fanfilcon A, balafilcon A, senofilcon C, and lehfilcon A. Lehfilcon A is a newly marketed silicon hydrogel contact lens with a surface modification of poly-(2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine) (PMPC). PMPC has previously been demonstrated to be an effective anti-biofouling treatment for numerous surfaces. We observed low adherence to lehfilcon A compared to other materials. We demonstrate the use of the fluorescent dye 5(6)-Carboxytetramethylrhodamine succinimidyl ester to covalently stain live cells prior to material adhesion studies.