Development of an Interpenetrating Hydrogel for Application as an Artificial Cornea

Professor Curt Frank
Stanford University
Department of Chemical Engineering

The presentation will describe an interdisciplinary effort between the Department of Chemical Engineering and the Department of Ophthalmology to develop a fully interpenetrating network for an artificial cornea.  We will show that intermolecular interactions, e.g. hydrogen bonding, can lead to dramatic increases in mechanical strength.  We will describe our materials characterization as well as give the engineering design parameters for the biomedical device.