Evaluation of a redox-initiated in situ hydrogel as vitreous substitute

Currently there is no material clinically available as a long-term vitreous substitute. In this study, an insitu gelation system based on alpha-poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (alpha-PEG-MA) and a redox-initiated radical polymerization/crosslinking reaction was evaluated for this purpose. Ammonium persulfate CAPS) and N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl ethylene diamine (TMEDA) were used as initiators. The gelation time, rheological properties, reaction kinetics and swelling profiles were studied in detail and the system with 10 wt% of alpha-PEG-MA and 8 mM APS/TMEDA was chosen as the optimal material for in vivo studies. Using the rabbit as the animal model, we showed that the system did form a space-filling and transparent gel in the vitreous cavity, and the inflammation response could be controlled to an acceptable level. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.