hydrogel lenses and gas permeable silicon based hydrogels in addition hydrophobic materials such as silicone elastomers can also be utilized all these lenses may be coated with a surface polysaccharide such as heparin lenses containing collagen can also be treated in the same fashion the coating of the present invention may be bonded to the surface of the lens by any method of bonding well known by those skilled in the art preferably in such a manner that the coating is bonded to the surface of the lens by means of covalent bonding ionic attraction or hydrogen bonding with covalent bonding being particularly preferred either end point and or midpoint attachment of the sulfated polysaccharide may be accomplished for effective reduction of adhesion in one particularly preferred embodiment of this invention heparin is covalently bonded to the surface of the lens by means of an end group attachment of heparin to the lens surface in another particularly preferred embodiment the lens surface is first treated with a plasma to generate an amine containing surface a carboxylic acid containing surface or an active or passive free radical containing surface and heparin compounds or derivatives thereof are thereafter employed to coat the lens surface in one embodiment plasma treating is accomplished by setting the lens in a gaseous atmosphere such as an oxygen rarefied atmosphere and subjecting the lens to an electromagnetic field for a given period of time in one embodiment the lens may be subjected from 1 10 minutes for example 2 minutes to an electromagnetic field having a frequency in the range of 1 50 mhz for example about 10 15 mhz with a corresponding power range of 10 500 w cm 2 for example about 100 w cm 2 in another embodiment in accordance with.