Reducing the deterioraton of wetted hydrophilic coatings comprising water subjected to sterilization by radiation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016287757-A1
Application number	US-201415037591-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 20, 2014
Priority date	Nov 20, 2013
Publication date	Oct 6, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method of reducing the deterioration of a wetted hydrophilic coating comprising water at the time of sterilization by radiation is provided. The method comprises the step of reducing the amount of oxygen in an atmosphere in contact with the wetted hydrophilic coating in addition to any reduction in oxygen provided by oxygen scavengers that may be present in the wetted hydrophilic coating.

First claim

1 . A method of reducing the deterioration of a wetted hydrophilic coating comprising water at the time of sterilization by radiation comprising the step of reducing the amount of oxygen in an atmosphere in contact with the wetted hydrophilic coating in addition to any reduction in oxygen provided by oxygen scavengers that may be present in the wetted hydrophilic coating, wherein the wetted hydrophilic coating comprises at least 70 wt % water, based on the total weight of the wetted hydrophilic coating.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the wetted hydrophilic coating is formed by bringing a wetting agent into contact with a hydrophilic coating, and wherein the hydrophilic coating is formed by curing a hydrophilic coating composition, the hydrophilic coating composition comprising at least 70 wt % of hydrophilic polymers, based on the total dry weight of the hydrophilic coating composition.

3 . The method of claim 1 wherein the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere in contact with the wetted hydrophilic coating is reduced below 15% by volume of the atmosphere in contact with the wetted hydrophilic coating.

4 . The method of claim 1 wherein the step of reducing the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere in contact with the wetted hydrophilic coating comprises replacing at least some of the oxygen in the atmosphere in contact with the wetted hydrophilic coating with an alternative gas.

5 . The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of incorporating a radical scavenger in the wetted hydrophilic coating.

6 . The method of claim 5 wherein the step of incorporating a radical scavenger in the wetted hydrophilic coating is performed by wetting a hydrophilic coating with a wetting agent comprising the radical scavenger.

7 . The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of enclosing an article comprising the wetted hydrophilic coating in a gas impermeable packaging.

8 . The method of claim 7 wherein the step of reducing the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere in contact with the wetted hydrophilic coating comprises incorporating an oxygen scavenging packaging component inside the gas impermeable packaging or as part of the gas impermeable packaging itself.

9 . The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of sterilizing an article comprising the wetted hydrophilic coating with radiation by gamma rays or electron beam.

10 . The method of claim 1 wherein the wetted hydrophilic coating is wetted by a wetting agent comprising from 1 wt % to 20 wt % of a component selected from the group consisting of glycerol, monoacetin, diacetin, diacetone alcohol, diethyleneglycol, triethyleneglycol, tetraethyleneglycol, propyleneglycol and dipropyleneglycol.

11 . A method of sterilizing a packaged article comprising the step of sterilizing with radiation a package comprising an article and a gas impermeable packaging enclosing the article, the article comprising a wetted hydrophilic coating, the wetted hydrophilic coating comprising water, and the package comprising an amount of oxygen that is less than an amount of oxygen that would have been present in the package if oxygen scavengers that may be present in the wetted hydrophilic coating were alone acting on ambient air at the time of packaging within the gas impermeable packaging, wherein the wetted hydrophilic coating comprises at least 70 wt % water, based on the total weight of the wetted hydrophilic coating.

12 . (canceled)

13 . (canceled)

14 . A package comprising
a. an article comprising a wetted hydrophilic coating, the wetted hydrophilic coating comprising water, wherein the wetted hydrophilic coating comprises at least 70 wt % water, based on the total weight of the wetted hydrophilic coating, b. a gas impermeable packaging enclosing the article, and c. an atmosphere within the gas impermeable packaging and in contact with the wetted hydrophilic coating that has an amount of oxygen that is less than an amount of oxygen that would have been present if oxygen scavengers that may be present in the wetted hydrophilic coating were alone acting on ambient air at the time of packaging within the gas impermeable packaging.

15 . The package of claim 14 , wherein the wetted hydrophilic coating further comprises a radical scavenger.

16 . The package of claim 14 , wherein the wetted hydrophilic coating comprises at least 90 wt % water.

17 . The package of claim 15 , wherein the wetted hydrophilic coating comprises at least 90 wt % water.

18 . The method of claim 2 wherein the step of reducing the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere in contact with the wetted hydrophilic coating comprises replacing at least some of the oxygen in the atmosphere in contact with the wetted hydrophilic coating with an alternative gas.

19 . The method of claim 18 further comprising the step of incorporating a radical scavenger in the wetted hydrophilic coating.

20 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the radical scavenger is vitamin C or a compound comprising a thiosulfate anion.

21 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the radical scavenger is vitamin C or a compound comprising a thiosulfate anion.

22 . The method of claim 21 further comprising the step of enclosing an article comprising the wetted hydrophilic coating in a gas impermeable packaging.

Assignees

• Dsm Ip Assets Bv

Inventors

• Belt Johannes Wilhelmus
• Gijsman Pieter

Classifications

• B65B55/08

  by irradiation · CPC title

• B65D81/266

  for absorbing gases, e.g. oxygen absorbers or desiccants (B65D51/244, B65D51/30 take precedence) · CPC title

• A61L29/143

  Stabilizers · CPC title

• A61L29/085 Primary

  Macromolecular materials · CPC title

• A61L2420/06

  Coatings containing a mixture of two or more compounds · CPC title