You are not logged in to this journal. Log in

Novel polymeric materials carrying a drug depot have been developed which are suitable for fabrication ofphotochemically modulated drug delivery devices. In order to avoid uncontrolled drug release the drug is covalentlyattached to the polymer backbone using a photo-active linker. Controlled drug release from the polymer can beaccomplished either via single-photon excitation or by two-photon absorption (TPA). In particular the second possibilityis of interest for applications where exposure to day light or UV light may not be omitted. One example are polymericintraocular lenses (IOL), which are implanted instead of the opaque natural lens during cataract surgery. Secondarycataract formation is quite often observed after implantation of polymeric IOLs. In this study the well known cell toxicagent 5-fluorouracil (5FU) attached to a methylmethacrylate-based polymer was investigated as an IOL which can uponphotochemical excitation release 5FU in order to treat or to prevent secondary cataract formation. The photochemicalcleavage of the linker molecule was analyzed with single- and two-photon excitation. UV/VIS spectroscopy and HPLCanalysis confirmed the release of 5FU form the polymer backbone. The diffusion of the drug precursor out from thepolymer as well as the hydrolysis of the drug precursor which leads to 5FU formation were investigated in vitro.

©2004 COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.