Patent ID: 7968018

Claim:
A method of producing a silicone hydrogel ophthalmic lens, comprising: polymerizing a polymerizable silicone hydrogel lens forming composition in an ophthalmic lens mold assembly to produce a polymerized silicone hydrogel lens product; removing the polymerized silicone hydrogel lens product from a concave lens-defining surface and a convex lens-defining surface of the mold assembly to produce a demolded and delensed ophthalmic lens product; prior to contacting the demolded and delensed lens product with any liquid, placing the demolded and delensed ophthalmic lens product in a lens carrier that has physical features on its surface which the lens product can contact; extracting materials from the delensed ophthalmic lens product by contacting the demolded and delensed ophthalmic lens product with a liquid composition that comprises alcohol, water, and a surfactant; subsequently contacting the demolded and delensed ophthalmic lens product with water to produce a hydrated silicone hydrogel ophthalmic lens; wherein the physical features comprise openings or holes located within pockets or recesses; and wherein the resulting ophthalmic lens product has no surface distortion or has less surface distortion as compared to a substantially identical resulting ophthalmic lens product produced from a substantially identical demolded and delensed ophthalmic lens product by a substantially identical process but without the surfactant present in the liquid composition.