Surgery – Means for introducing or removing material from body for... – Treating material applied to or removed from external...
Reissue Patent
1995-12-05
2001-02-06
Stright, Jr, Ronald K. (Department: 3762)
Surgery
Means for introducing or removing material from body for...
Treating material applied to or removed from external...
C604S295000, C222S214000, C222S336000
Reissue Patent
active
RE037047
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a cartridge for applying medicament to an eye from a vial-dispenser of the type which is actuated by compression of the vial between its nozzle and its bottom wall.
2. Description of Related Art
There are various dispensers which are known for applying medicament to an eye. A typical eye-drop container includes a flexible vial storage portion and a nozzle for dispensing drops of medicament into the eye by squeezing the vial between its side walls. Less common, but more precise, are accordion-like or piston-like dispensers which are actuated by squeezing the vial between a bottom wall and the nozzle so as to compress the vial in its longitudinal direction, rather than from its sides. It is these accordion-like or piston-like dispensers with which the cartridge of the present invention is particularly adapted for use. An example of a new and improved piston-like dispenser is the subject of my co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 07/801,243 which is incorporated herein by reference.
Most people encounter difficulty in applying drops to their eyes. The eye is a very sensitive body part and individuals find it difficult to control reflexive blinking when applying drops thereto. Also, eye drop users often have poor vision. Poor vision makes it difficult to position the tip of the dropper bottle over the eye and frequently causes drops to be incorrectly applied to the nose or cheek. Additionally, elderly people often have difficulty holding a dropper bottle steady or encounter difficulty in squeezing the bottle to apply a proper quantity of the medicament.
Even if the liquid medicament is properly applied to the eye, the medicament's effectiveness is limited. The minimum volume of a drop of liquid medicament which can ordinarily be introduced into contact with an eye at one time is about 30 &mgr;l. Any amount which is greater than about 25 &mgr;l usually spills over the eyelid onto the cheek since this is the maximum volume which the eye can ordinarily handle. When eye drops are applied to the surface of the eyeball, blinking and natural tear flow combine to limit the time to a few minutes that liquid medicament will remain effective.
On the other hand, if medicament is applied to the cul de sac of the conjunctiva, the medicament will remain effective for a longer period of time, maximizing the benefits of applying drops of liquid medicament to the eye. This is because the conjunctiva is an area of low sensitivity and low tear turnover such that blinking and tearing are avoided. However, because of the difficulty encountered in steadying the dropper and accurately positioning it over the conjunctiva, maximizing the effectiveness of the medicament remains elusive.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,543,096 describes and illustrates an apparatus having finger-like projections which are attached to the front of an eye drop bottle to spread the eyelids apart during the eye drop dispensing process. One moveable finger is connected to a lever for both depressing the lever and simultaneously causing the eyelids to spread apart while forcing a drop from the dropper bottle. However, the apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,543,096 cannot be used with the accordion-like or piston-like dispensers which are actuated by compression in the longitudinal direction rather than from the sides. Furthermore, this apparatus will not properly expose the cul de sac.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,944 depicts an apparatus for steadying the tip of a dropper over the eye and further includes a sighting hole to distract the eye. However, this apparatus does not have a means to expose the cul de sac nor keep the lower eyelid depressed.
Typical eye-drop dispensers also have the disadvantage that the force which is necessary to actuate the dispenser to emit a drop is not in the same direction as the motion which is necessary to lower the lower eyelid and expose the cul de sac. It would be desirable to have a device which actuates the dispenser with a motion which is in the same direction as that which is necessary to lower the lower eyelid.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide a device which can accurately deliver a small drop of medicament to the conjunctival cul de sac of an eye.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such a device which can be used to actuate an accordion-like or piston-like vial-dispenser using minimal force.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such a device wherein the motion used to actuate the dispenser to emit a drop is in the same direction as the motion which is necessary to depress the lower eyelid and expose the conjunctival cul de sac.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a device having these features which has a simple construction and which is easy to manufacture.
The foregoing objects are achieved by the present invention which provides a cartridge which is particularly adapted for actuating an accordion-like or piston-like dispenser-vial. The cartridge includes a generally cylindrical housing which is adapted to receive a dispenser-vial between an anterior wall of the housing and a telescoping cylinder. The anterior wall of the housing has an aperture for allowing the nozzle of the vial to project therefrom. The anterior of the housing is curved with a highly polished and smooth external surface to prevent any corneal injury in the event of accidental contact with the eye.
The back of the housing is open and slidably receives the telescoping inner cylinder. When the inner cylinder is pushed toward the anterior of the housing it forces the dispenser-vial to compress in the longitudinal direction between the anterior wall of the housing and the cylinder. In the case of some dispensers which can be used with the invention, compression causes a drop of liquid medicament to enter the drop cavity of the dispenser thereby “loading” the drop cavity.
The top of the inner surface of the housing is formed with a notch. The front of the telescoping inner cylinder is formed with a rearwardly and outwardly projecting extension which easily slides past an inclined side of the notch as the cylinder is pushed into the housing to load the drop cavity of the vial. However, the opposite side of the notch is angled to prevent the cylinder extension from sliding past the notch in the opposite direction, thereby locking the cylinder so that the vial is in its loaded position.
The housing is formed with a trigger mechanism for unlocking the cylinder. A trigger button is disposed on the top of the housing. Depression of the trigger button forces the extension of the inner cylinder away from the notch allowing the cylinder to move past it. The compressed dispenser-vial forces the inner cylinder rearward. Upon expansion of the dispenser-vial a drop is emitted through the dispenser nozzle.
The bottom of the anterior section of the housing is formed with a soft finger which is adapted to engage the lower eyelid. In order to apply a drop, the inner cylinder is pushed into its locked position to load the dispenser-vial. The nozzle projecting from the cartridge is then positioned over the eyeball with the finger pressing on the lower eyelid to expose the conjunctival cul de sac. When the trigger is depressed the resulting motion of the cartridge will be in the sam direction as the motion which causes the finger to lower the lower eyelid and expose the conjunctival cul de sac as a drop is emitted.
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p
Cho David J.
Kenyon & Kenyon
Stright, Jr Ronald K.
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