Viability studies of hydrogel contact lens on a 3D printed platform as ocular drug delivery carrier for diabetic retinopathy

[Display omitted] •A simple process is illustrated to fabricate a cost effective PHEMA lens using 3D Printed platform.•The lens as drug delivery topical implant has similar surface contour as commercial lens.•The lens has comparable swelling and better transmittance properties than commercial lens.•The drug releasing Fickian diffusion process fits to the Korsmeyer - Pappas model.•Significant anti-VEGF effects are observed when Avastin as drug is delivered by the lens. Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a microvascular disease that damages retinal layers. Avastin loaded PHEMA hydrogel lens as a topical implant is presented here for DR therapy. The lens is fabricated upon a novel, cost-effective and simple to design 3D printed platform. It has contours similar to a commercial contact lens for patient comfort and added characteristics of a drug delivery vehicle. The lens swelling properties are comparable to the commercial lens. The percentage of cumulative drug released between 0 and 1500 min is 60 %, and the release kinetics follows the Korsmeyer- Pappas (KP) release model with 40–60% anti-VEGF effects.