68 / 2019-08-28 11:52:45

Study on the technology and the optical properties of 3D extrusion printing multiscale hydrogel lens

3D printing,contact lenses,optical transmittance,hydrogel

全体主题 > Novel bio-manufacturing systems and technologies

As an important optical element, lens has been used in many fields because of its excellent optical properties. With excellent optical properties and biocompatibility, gelatin methacryloyl(GelMA) hydrogels are widely used for fabricating intraocular lenses and contact lenses. Therefore, the GelMA hydrogel has great advantages and potential in manufacturing optical lenses. Smooth movement, controllable temperature and good extensibility, by these characteristics, extrusion printing is popular in the field of 3D printing. Here, in this paper, a variety of lenses based on GelMA hydrogel were made by using a 3D bio-extrusion printer. And the extrusion printing process and optical imaging performance of the hydrogel lens were investigated by combining theoretical modelling and simulation experiments. The transmittance of GelMA lenses with different sizes at different concentrations was measured by a colorimeter in the wavelength range of 400-700 nm in further. In addition, the mechanical properties of GelMA lenses, including Young’s modulus and compressive modulus, were found to dramatically increase with the concentration of GelMA. Experiments showed that the GelMA lens printed by the extruded 3D printer has excellent optical transmittance and mechanical properties. This study can help to better understand the effects of the different fabrication conditions on the morphology, optical properties and mechanical properties of the GelMA lens.