JP4596458B2 - Contact lens cleaning method and cleaning liquid used therefor - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a cleaning method effective for removing dirt adhered to a contact lens, and a cleaning liquid suitable for the cleaning method.

  Contact lenses (hereinafter referred to as lenses) are roughly classified into hydrous and non-hydrous. A water-containing lens has less foreign material feeling and excellent wearing feeling, but because the lens material contains a large amount of water, there is a possibility that bacteria will propagate due to dirt caused by tear fluid components attached with wearing. And daily cleaning and disinfection is essential. In addition, even if it is a non-water-containing lens, even if there is no risk of dirt entering the lens material, there will be no change in the dirt on the surface due to use, and in order to continue wearing comfortably Cleaning after use is essential.

  As a method for cleaning such stains, a lens containing a surfactant is applied to the surface of the lens after removal, and the lens is cleaned by rubbing with a finger, or the lens is cleaned by simply immersing it in the solution. There is also a method to do not only disinfection. The supplier of the cleaning agent provides a liquid agent that is expected to have a certain cleaning effect by supplying the liquid agent with a higher cleaning power so that the dirt can be removed as easily as possible. As a dipping cleaning method, a method of cleaning a lens with a cleaning agent containing sodium bicarbonate, an enzyme and a surfactant is disclosed in JP-A-57-48712, and percarbonate is disclosed in JP-A-1-179123. JP-A-2-289255 proposes a method for cleaning and disinfecting a lens using a solution containing an antibacterial agent, a surfactant and an enzyme.

  The cleaning methods exemplified by the former two attempt to clean the lens by the cooperative effect of the mechanical cleaning action of bubbles due to the generation of carbon dioxide gas and oxygen gas and the chemical cleaning action of the surfactant. However, the mechanical action is only slight if bubbles are present, and the actual cleaning power depends on the solubilizing power of the soil by the surfactant. Although protein stains can be washed at the same time with the use of the above, there is no difference in removing the stains by solubilizing power. In short, since these methods are inferior in physical effect to the method of rubbing and cleaning the lens with fingers, it is necessary to relatively increase the concentration of the surfactant used in the rubbing cleaning method. Therefore, it is difficult to wear the lens after these treatments as it is, and if it is intended to be worn as it is, the surfactant concentration will inevitably be kept low for the sake of safety improvement. It is difficult to obtain a cleaning effect.

  On the other hand, in the method of rubbing with fingers, since the effect of physically removing dirt is high, the amount of the surfactant can be reduced, so the lens after washing is rinsed with the same detergent or lightly. There is a merit that it can be retrofitted. However, because the lens surface and fingers are in direct contact, the lens is easily scratched, and the amount of time for rubbing is subject to the user's discretion. This may cause scratches on the lens surface, and conversely, dirt will accumulate due to slight cleaning, shortening the service life of the lens or causing eye damage by wearing a lens with a poor surface condition. There are problems such as. In order to make the contact between the lens surface and the finger as soft as possible, a composition in which the cleaning component is foamed in a mousse form is proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-110825. According to this composition, as a result of applying the mousse-like cleaning composition to the lens, a foam cushion is formed between the finger and the lens surface, and the occurrence of scratches on the lens surface can be suppressed. However, even this method has not yet solved the problem that the effect varies depending on the cleaning time of the user. In addition, ethanol and isopropyl alcohol blended to form a mousse are likely to damage soft contact lenses.

JP 57-48712 A JP-A-1-179123 JP-A-2-289255 JP-A-4-110825

  Here, the present invention has been made in the background of the above-mentioned circumstances, and the problem to be solved is cleaning that can be shown to the lens user in an aspect that can clearly recognize the end of cleaning. It aims to provide a method.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention proposes the following lens cleaning method. That is, a method of cleaning a contact lens by injecting a liquid agent containing a surfactant and / or a viscous agent in a foamed state, and the user recognizes the completion of cleaning when the bubbles disappear after a predetermined time. It is the gist of what can be done. Further, since the defoaming time naturally varies depending on the amount of the cleaning liquid sprayed onto the lens, in the present invention, the cleaning operation is performed when the amount of the liquid used per lens is 0.25 mL as a temporary guide. This is a cleaning method in which defoaming can be visually recognized within a range of ˜50 seconds.

  By cleaning the lens according to the cleaning method of the present invention, the effect of finger cleaning can be maximized, and a comfortable lens that prevents the lens surface from being insufficiently washed or caused by overcleaning is prevented. A wear cycle can be provided. In addition, according to the method of the present invention, a process that cannot be normally controlled, such as a cleaning operation by a user, can be controlled to some extent constant. Therefore, it is possible to provide a lens treatment solution that is safer for the eyes and comfortable.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail.
The liquid agent containing the surfactant and / or the viscous agent is sprayed using a conventionally known foam jet pump container to apply the foamed liquid agent to the lens, and a predetermined time elapses during washing with fingers. The phenomenon of defoaming is recognized, so that the user can clearly indicate the completion of cleaning. As a container for storing the liquid used in the present invention, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 60-24426, etc., the atmosphere is compressed by a pump action and filled into the container, and the internal solution is ejected from the outlet. There is also a method of using an aerosol can as disclosed in JP-A-4-110825. Even when any of these containers is used, it is sufficient that a foam is obtained at the time of injection by mixing air and a liquid agent, and the foaming method and the container are not particularly limited.

  In the present invention, since a certain time is required from the foamed state to defoaming, there is no difference in the cleaning effect due to the different cleaning time for each user in the prior art. Since the user only needs to continue cleaning until defoaming without measuring the number of times of rubbing with fingers or the time of cleaning with a clock or the like, this method is easy to obtain compliance. In addition, for the liquid agent distributor, when instructing the cleaning method, it is only necessary to simply explain that “clean until defoaming”, and for the liquid drug manufacturer, it is assumed that the cleaning time is constant. Because it is only necessary to study the formulation of the surfactant, it is not necessary to add an excessive amount of surfactant according to the severe level of dirt as in the case of the cleaning method using only immersion. It is a useful method.

  The predetermined period until defoaming in the present invention depends on the spray amount of the cleaning agent, but when the amount of liquid normally used for cleaning one lens is 0.25 mL, it is used in conventional finger cleaning. It is preferable that the number of rubbing times per one side of the lens is set to about 5 to 50 seconds, more preferably 5 to 40 seconds, and most preferably 5 to 30 seconds. In this predetermined period, if the defoaming is too fast, not only a sufficient cleaning effect can not be expected, but also the cushioning action due to the foam between the lens surface and the finger cannot be obtained, so the lens surface is likely to be damaged. In addition, if it does not defoam for too long, it will result in forcing the user to over-clean, making it difficult to keep the usage, as well as rubbing more than necessary. This is because it will cause scratches.

  In the present invention, in order to obtain a foamed cleaning agent, a surfactant and / or a viscous agent is added to the liquid agent. The surfactant may be any of conventionally known anionic surfactants, nonionic surfactants, cationic surfactants, amphoteric surfactants, or a combination thereof as appropriate. Use a non-ionic surfactant for safety when re-wearing the lens after cleaning, or simply rinsing with the same cleaning agent. It is preferable to do.

  Examples of the anionic surfactant include α-olefin sulfonate, alkyl sulfonate, alkyl benzene sulfonate, carboxylated ether salt having a polyoxyethylene chain, alkyl phosphate, and polyoxyethylene chain. And alkyl ether phosphates / sulfates, alkyl sulfates, alkyl sulfate ethers, N-acyl taurine salts, N-acyl amino acid salts, alkyl ether carboxylates and the like. Nonionic surfactants include polyoxyethylene polyoxypropylene block polymers, polyoxyethylene polyoxypropylene-substituted ethylenediamines, polyoxyethylene glycerin fatty acid esters, polyglycerin fatty acid esters, sorbitan fatty acid esters, polyoxyethylene Oxyethylene sorbitan fatty acid esters, polyoxyethylene sorbit fatty acid esters, polyoxyethylene alkylphenyl formaldehyde condensates, polyoxyethylene hydrogenated castor oil, polyoxyethylene sterols, polyethylene glycol fatty acid esters, polyoxyethylene polyoxypropylene alkyl Ethers, polyoxyethylene alkyl phenyl ethers, polyoxyethylene alkyl ethers, polyoxy Ethylene lanolin alcohols, and than can be exemplified polyoxyethylene fatty acid amides, among others, preferably those containing a polyoxyethylene chain structure is employed. As the cationic surfactant, a long-chain alkylamine acetate, a long-chain alkyltrimethylammonium chloride and the like can be used, and as an amphoteric surfactant, a glycine type such as alkylpolyaminoethylglycine, lauryldimethylaminoacetic acid betaine, And amphoteric surfactants such as betaine acetate type, imidazoline type, alkylaminopropionic acid, alkylaminopropionate and the like.

  The amount of the surfactant used is different depending on the surfactant to be used, but it is necessary that the foaming state as an object of the present invention is exhibited and has a property of defoaming after a predetermined period of time. , 0.05 to 2.0 w / v% is preferable, and 0.05 to 1.0 w / v% is more preferable. When the concentration of the surfactant is lower than 0.05 w / v%, it is difficult to obtain a foamed state. On the other hand, when the surfactant concentration is higher than 2.0 w / v%, it takes a long time for defoaming. Because it becomes.

  As the thickener used in the present invention, for example, hydroxyethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl methyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose, methyl cellulose, polyethylene glycol, polyacrylamide, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, polyvinyl alcohol, polyacrylic acid, gum arabic, chondroitin sulfate, etc. One or more types appropriately selected from the above can be used. Of these thickeners, hydroxypropylmethylcellulose, polyvinylpyrrolidone, and polyvinyl alcohol are preferable, and hydroxypropylmethylcellulose is particularly preferable. The thickener improves the slippage of the lens surface when washing the fingers of the lens, making the lens surface less susceptible to scratches and adhering appropriately to the lens surface to improve tear wettability when the lens is worn. There is also an effect. These viscous agents may be used alone, but are preferred in that a liquid agent having both foamability and antifoaming property can be obtained by using in combination with the surfactant.

Like the surfactant, the amount of the thickener used is different depending on the thickener used, so it is difficult to determine it uniformly. In view of protection of the liquid, the viscosity of the liquid agent is set to 15 mm ² / s or less, preferably 10 mm ² / s or less. In order to obtain such a viscosity range, the thickener concentration is generally adjusted to a range of 0.1 to 2 w / v%, preferably 0.1 to 1.0 w / v%. When the concentration of the viscous agent is lower than 0.1 w / v%, it is almost impossible to obtain a foamed state even if used alone, and when it is used more than 2 w / v%, the viscosity of the liquid agent becomes high. It is because it becomes too much and it cannot be set as a foaming state also in this case.

  The liquid agent used in the present invention includes various components commonly used in lens cleaning agents or cleaning disinfectants as components other than those described above, such as buffering agents, isotonic agents, metal sequestering agents, antibacterial agents. , Refreshing agents, etc. can be added. These additives are used within a range that does not hinder the cleaning method of the present invention and within a range that does not cause eye damage even when the lens material has an influence on the lens material or enters the eye while attached to the lens.

  Examples of the buffer include borate buffer, phosphate buffer, citrate buffer, acetate buffer, Tris buffer, carbonate buffer, tartrate buffer, and glycine buffer. These buffering agents are used to stabilize the pH of the solution and make the eye unstimulated when the treated lens is worn. The pH of the liquid used in the method of the present invention is preferably 5 to 9, and more preferably 6 to 8. Therefore, the above buffer is used so that this pH range is obtained. These are desirably used in a concentration range of 0.001 to 5 w / v%, preferably 0.01 to 2 w / v%.

  The isotonic agent is used to adjust the osmotic pressure to the same level as tears when the solution used in the method of the present invention is used as a preservation solution, particularly when used in a hydrous lens. Examples thereof include inorganic salts such as sodium chloride and potassium chloride, and polyhydric alcohols such as glycerin, propylene glycol, ethylene glycol, mannitol, sorbitol, and trehalose in the usual usage and dosage.

  The sequestering agent is added for the purpose of preventing divalent metal ions such as calcium ions present in tears and proteins from forming complex stains on the lens, for example, , Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and its salt, citric acid and its salt, trishydroxymethylaminomethane, sodium hexametaphosphate, nitrilotriacetic acid, etc., can be used in the range of 0.01 to 5 w / v%.

  The antibacterial agent is used as a preservative for a liquid used in the method of the present invention or for the purpose of disinfecting a lens during storage, for example, chlorhexidine gluconate, benzalkonium chloride, benzethonium chloride, sorbine There are acids, chlorobutanol, paraoxybenzoic acid, polyhexamethylene biguanide, polyquaterium-1, polyquaterium-6, polyquaterium-22, etc., and these are used in the range of 0.00001 to 0.5 w / v%.

  The refreshing agent may be used mainly to improve the wearing feeling of the lens, and the same effect can be obtained by adding to the liquid agent in the cleaning method of the present invention. Specific examples include menthol, borneol, camphor, geraniol, mint water, eucalyptus oil, and the like. These are used in the range of 0.0001 to 0.1 w / v%.

  The liquid agent prepared by appropriately blending the above-mentioned various components is stored in the conventionally known foam ejection container, and after applying to the lens in a foamed state when the lens is washed, it shows a change that naturally disappears during hand washing. Therefore, the user can recognize the end of cleaning at the time of defoaming. In this way, the sign of cleaning completion, which can be clearly seen, is used on the solution provider side because it is easy for the lens user to accept, unlike the specification of the number of cleanings and the cleaning time in the conventional cleaning method. It becomes comparatively easy to control a person's washing effect.

  By the way, in the method of this invention, the foam ejection container which accommodates a liquid agent becomes essential use. This is because, when using a method for adjustment at the time of use (for example, mixing and foaming a tablet and liquid at the time of use), the user must adjust the foamed liquid every time it is washed. This is because the above and the cleaning system are hardly accepted. As a specific example of the foam ejection container, a container as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-24394 is preferably used. These bubble jet pumps basically have a liquid mechanism in a container mixed with air by a pump mechanism that moves up and down a piston pipe in a cylinder suspended in a lid attached to a container mouth. Foaming further passes through the porous body to generate homogeneous foam, and the foamed liquid agent is ejected from the ejection nozzle at the top of the piston pipe that extends upward through the top surface of the lid. With such a container, the user can easily obtain a foamed liquid by simply pressing down the nozzle, and the amount of liquid used can be made constant by making the stroke of the nozzle pressed down constant. Therefore, the time until defoaming can be made constant, and as a result, a constant cleaning time can be secured. Further, with such a container, the liquid agent can be supplied for refilling, so that it can be an economical method and effective for problems such as dust after use.

  As another example of the container, LPG, butane, butylene or the like as a propellant may be sealed together with a liquid agent in a pressure-resistant aerosol can or the like and injected. The propellant is generally adjusted to 3 to 15% by weight of the liquid agent. If this amount is small, the foamed state of the liquid is poor, and the propellant is consumed before the liquid is completely ejected, and the liquid agent cannot be used up. This is because the liquid agent is wasted.

  In order to clarify the present invention more specifically, several examples of the contact lens cleaning method according to the present invention are illustrated below.

[Example 1]
Cleaning liquids of solution Nos. 1 to 15 and comparative solution Nos. 1 to 2 were prepared according to the blending amounts shown in Tables 1 and 2 (percentages in the tables indicate w / v% concentration). In addition, about the component in a table | surface, it shows below.
Pluronic F87 (BASF, POE / POP block polymers)
Lutrol F127 (BASF, POE / POP block polymers)
Nikkor HCO-60 (Nikko Chemicals, POE hydrogenated castor oil)
Tetronic 1107 (BASF, POE / POP-substituted ethylenediamine)
Metroze 60SH-50,4000 (Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., hydroxypropylmethylcellulose)
PLASDONE K-30, K-90 (ISP, polyvinylpyrrolidone)
PVA-217 (Kuraray, polyvinyl alcohol)

Table 1

Table 2

The liquid mixture of each composition of Table 1 and Table 2 is stirred and mixed until it becomes uniform, and is subjected to aseptic filtration, and a commercially available container (trade name: clean) having the same shape and the same volume in which the inside of the container is previously cleaned It was filled into a beautiful sales agency: Lion Corporation. The liquid thus prepared and filled was sprayed onto the lens and washed with fingers. As a result, the liquid Nos. 1 to 3 were jetted well and defoamed when the cleaning time shown in Table 1 had elapsed. Moreover, about liquid agent No. 4-15, the slip of the lens surface at the time of washing | cleaning was favorable under the influence of the viscous agent, and was excellent in the washing | cleaning feeling. On the other hand, in Comparative Solution No. 1, foaming was performed but the bubbles did not disappear, and in Comparative Solution No. 2, the viscosity was too high (kinematic viscosity 19.3 mm ² / s) to be in a foamed state. could not. Liquid No. 10 is composed of the same components as Comparative Liquid No. 2 and the amount added is changed. The kinematic viscosity is 3.0 mm ² / s, which is appropriate as shown in Table 2. Foaming and disappeared after about 15 seconds.

[Example 2]
In order to prove the uniformity of the cleaning effect of the present invention, the cleaning effect of Solution No. 15 was compared between the case where conventional finger cleaning was performed and the case where cleaning was performed according to the method of the present invention. First, a dirt lens was prepared according to the following procedure.
-Cleaning effect test-
(1) Sorbitan monooleate: 6 w / v%, castor oil: 16 w / v%, lanolin: 35 w / v%, oleic acid: 5 w / v%, sorbitan trioleate: 4 w / v%, cetyl alcohol : 2 w / v%, Cholesterol: 2 w / v%, and Cholesterol acetate: 30 w / v%, mixed 2.5 parts of artificial lipid liquid homogenized by stirring and 97.5 parts of physiological saline Thus, an artificial lipid solution was prepared.

(2) Prepare a hard contact lens (Menicon Super EX: manufactured by Menicon Co., Ltd.) as a test lens (50 lenses each), and apply 5 μL of the artificial lipid solution to the surface uniformly on both surfaces of the lens. A lens with lipid soil adhesion was obtained.
(3) Then, the obtained artificial lipid-stained lens was taken on the palm of the hand, 0.25 mL of Solution No. 15 was dropped from a normal bottle, and a subject group instructed to rub for 6 seconds with a fingertip, With the subject group using 0.25 mL of the same solution that is about 6 seconds until defoaming using the method of the invention, finger washing was performed, and the appearance of the lens surface after washing was visually observed. In the case of cleaning by finger, a lens in which dirt remained on three of the 50 test lenses was confirmed. However, in the case of cleaning by finger according to the method of the present invention, the lens surface was stained for all 50 test lenses. Had been removed.
This shows that according to the method of the present invention, a certain cleaning effect can be expected.

[Example 3]
Cleaning solutions of solution Nos. 16 to 17 were prepared according to the blending amounts shown in Table 3 (percentages in the table indicate w / v% concentration). Here, liquid No. 16 contains an antibacterial agent in a liquid containing a surfactant and a thickener, and therefore, if the liquid is used as a preservative after washing, it can be disinfected. is there. Liquid No. 17 was prepared so that a refreshing sensation was obtained when it was worn after rinsing the lens after washing with the same liquid after adding a cooling agent. In addition, as a container of a liquid agent, the container which has the nozzle which can change and change the foaming state of a liquid as described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 58-137463 was used. By this nozzle, a foamed liquid agent is ejected during hand washing, and a liquid agent with suppressed foaming is ejected when filling the lens storage case with the liquid agent. As a result, the liquid agent can be used not only for cleaning the lens but also as a preserving liquid or a disinfecting liquid.

Table 3

A comparative test of cleaning and disinfecting a hydrous soft lens (Menicon Soft MA: manufactured by Menicon Co., Ltd.) was performed using the liquid No. 16.
-Cleaning and disinfection effect test-
(1) Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans were used as test bacteria, and Sa was cultured in a soybean casein medium at 35 ° C. for 24 hours. Glucose peptone for Ca Each culture medium was cultured at 23 ° C. for 48 hours, suspended in physiological saline, and prepared to be a test bacterial solution of 10 ⁷ to 10 ⁸ cfu / mL.

(2) Apply 10 μL of the test bacteria solution on both sides of the soft lens and dry in air for 5 minutes. After the bacterial cells were adsorbed on the lens surface in this way, each lens was hand-washed for 5 seconds using the liquid No. 16 with a foamed liquid or the same amount of liquid dripped from a normal bottle. Wear surgical gloves to prevent contamination of the lens from the fingers).
(3) Thereafter, the lens was placed in a test tube containing 2 mL of sterile physiological saline, stirred with a vortex mixer, the cells were separated from the lens, and the number of residual bacteria was measured. The results are shown in Table 4.

Table 4

  As a result, the number of residual bacteria was smaller in the case of the method of the present invention than in the case of the conventional technique in which the method was simply dripped, and it was confirmed that the washing effect was improved by hand washing. In addition, regarding the number of residual bacteria among the subjects in each test, it can be seen that the method according to the method of the present invention is within a certain range, and the uniformity of the operation is ensured.

  In addition, as a result of actually wearing a test for the case of using liquid No. 17, it was confirmed that when a lens stored in a liquid containing a cooling agent was used, a refreshing feeling was given to the user. It was done.

Claims (2)

0.05-2.0 w / v% surfactant and 0.1-1.0 w / v% hydroxypropylmethylcellulose, polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyvinyl alcohol, including a thickener and abrasive particles In this method, a liquid preparation containing no ethanol and / or isopropyl alcohol is sprayed in a foamed state using a foam ejection container to wash the contact lens, and the foam disappears after 5 to 50 seconds from the start of finger washing. it allows cleaning method of contact lens user and wherein the recognition to Rukoto washing completion of.

0.05-2.0 w / v% surfactant and 0.1-1.0 w / v% hydroxypropylmethylcellulose, polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyvinyl alcohol, including a thickener and abrasive particles no, a liquid which does not contain ethanol and / or isopropyl alcohol, using a bubble jet container, after washing the contact lens by injecting a foamed state was filled in a contact lens storage case in a state where the liquid with reduced foaming A method for treating a contact lens, wherein the washed contact lens is stored and / or disinfected.