Patent Description:
In order to maintain optimal vision, the human eye requires proper maintenance of all its anatomical structures. A human eye is illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG>. The eyeball <NUM> (<FIG>) is protected by a set of movable upper <NUM> and lower <NUM> eyelids. The eyelids <NUM> and <NUM> function to open and close to protect the eye <NUM> from dust, debris, wind and excessive light. The anatomy of each eyelid <NUM> and <NUM> is very complex and includes structures, such as skin, muscle, fat, lashes and oil glands. Each eyelid <NUM> and <NUM> includes eyelashes <NUM> and <NUM>. The area of the eyelid <NUM> and <NUM> around the eyelashes <NUM> and <NUM>, i.e. the area when the eyelids <NUM> and <NUM> close and touch each other, is known as the eyelid margin <NUM> and <NUM>.

The eyelashes <NUM> and <NUM> serve to heighten the protection of the eye from dust and foreign debris, as well as from perspiration. The eyelid margin <NUM> and <NUM> and eyelashes <NUM> and <NUM> have a unique bacterial flora that needs to be cared for daily fashion to prevent their natural bacteria from over growing and causing various eyelid disorders, such as blepharitis, sties, chalaza. The bacteria is known to result in itching, burning, red, irritated and dry eyes.

The eyelid margin <NUM> and <NUM> is also very important to maintain the health of the tear film because it contains special oil glands known as Meibomian glands. These unique eyelid glands supply a thin layer of oil that, upon blinking, floats on top of the tears acting as a tear stabilizer and barrier protector of the liquid layer underneath. Eyelid margin pathologies, such as inflammation, infection, blepharitis, Meibomian gland dysfunction leads to significant patient distress. Symptoms of these diseases include itching, burning, crusting, watery eyes and discharge. Damage and loss of proper function of these Meibomian glands leads to specific issues of dry eye disease.

Eye care professionals normally detect when the eyelids are in a diseased state during routine office exams. Eye care professionals commonly treat these problems by employing various modalities including topical or oral antibiotics and steroids and almost always a form of at home daily eyelid margin cleaning. The various known methods for cleaning eyelids fall into several categories: <NUM>. Gentle soap or solution alone. Gentle soap or solution on an abrasive pad. Hand held instrument scrub with abrasive pad in office. Hand held instrument scrub with abrasive pad at home.

Gentle soaps and solutions have been used for years to provide daily home cleaning. Baby shampoo and other soaps, such as Ocusoft, are applied by the patient to their eyelids and rubbed in with their fingers. Other spray-on therapy solutions use chemicals, such as hypochlorous acid, to kill eyelid bacteria. There are known problems with these methods, such as the lack of dexterity of the patient, both children and the elderly to effectively apply the treatment, the physical time of contact of the soap to the lid margin and lashes, and the fact many people out of worry and fear of pain or burning, are known to squeeze their eyes tightly together when touching around their eyes. This will prevent the full effect of the treatment from being administered.

Applying gentle soaps and solutions to an abrasive pad or cloth, such as Ocusoft, premoistened pad or Systane eyelid wipes increases the scrubbing potential but at the same time increases the need to be even more dexterous and cautious to the possibility of scratching the surface of the eyeball with the pad causing irritation or even an abrasion.

Hand-held devices are known to be used for cleaning eye lids by eye care professionals in an office setting. Some known hand-held devices use a rotating abrasive sponge pad to clean the eyelids <NUM> and <NUM>. One known hand-held device, known as a BlephEx® machine, is disclosed in <CIT> and US Patent Application Publication No. <CIT>. Treatment with such a hand-held device, while effective in the office, is not cost effective since patients must rely on office visits every <NUM> to <NUM> months for treatment. Also, patients will have to fall back on other less effective methods and less expensive at-home daily eyelid cleaning. Document <CIT> discloses a device for cleaning human eyelid comprising all the technical features set out in the preamble of claim <NUM>.

In order to improve at-home treatment, a hand-held device was developed for use at home to clean the eyelid margins, known as a NuLids™ soft tip device (https:/youtube/6aqOfECykLY). The NuLids device, available from NuSight Medical Operations (https:/www. nusightmedical. com/), includes a hand-held tool with a moving brush. Unfortunately, the NuLids device requires a doctor's prescription and requires disposable pads. Also, treatment with the NuLids device requires significant amount of dexterity to avoid touching the tips to the cornea and requires the user to look in the mirror for proper tip position. This requirement is an obstacle for those needing glasses to see and those with a general fear of touching around ones open eyes especially in children.

Thus, there is a need for an eyelid cleaning device which is simpler to use and cost effective and provides enhanced at home daily eyelid and eye lash cleaning.

Briefly, the present invention relates to a hand-held device for home use for cleaning eyelids, eye margins and eye lashes. The device includes a housing, for example, a waterproof housing, which forms a handle, and a cleaning head, attached on one end of the housing. In accordance with an important aspect of the invention, a vibration generator is used to sonically drive the cleaning head. The sonically driven cleaning head provides improved cleaning power relative to known rotating brush devices. In use, the sonically driven cleaning head is placed in contact with one or both eye lids for each eye and either held in a stationary position or moved from side to side or back and forth. The vibration of the cleaning head in contact effectively scrubs the upper eyelid or lower eyelid without the need for vigorous scrubbing or significant agility.

These and other advantages of the present invention will be readily understood with reference to the following specification and attached drawing wherein:.

The present invention relates to a hand-held device for home use, generally identified with the reference numeral <NUM>, for cleaning eyelids, eye margins and eye lashes. The device <NUM> includes a housing, for example, a waterproof housing, which forms a handle, and a cleaning head, attached on one end of the housing. In accordance with an important aspect of the invention, a vibration generator is used to drive the cleaning head sonically. The sonically driven cleaning head is placed in contact with one or both eye lids for each eye and either held in a stationary position or moved from side to side or back and forth. The vibration of the cleaning head in contact effectively scrubs the upper eyelid or lower eyelid, eyelid margins and eye lashes without the need for vigorous scrubbing or significant agility. The vibrating cleaning head is a more effective daily home cleaning tool for eyelids, eye margins and eyelashes than known devices with rotary swabs or sponges.

The device <NUM> includes a housing <NUM>, for example, a waterproof housing, which forms a handle, and a cleaning head <NUM> attached on one end of the housing. The handle may be ergonomically formed for patients with dexterity issues and children. The cleaning head <NUM> may be rigidly attached or removably attached to one end of the housing <NUM>. A power source <NUM> and a vibration generator <NUM> are carried by the housing <NUM>. The device <NUM> may include conventional circuitry to allow the speed and/or amplitude of the vibrations generated by the vibration generator <NUM> to be varied from sonic to ultrasonic speeds by way of a switch <NUM>, located on the exterior of the housing <NUM>.

In use, the eyelids <NUM> and <NUM> of one eye are gently closed, for example, as illustrated in <FIG>. The device allows the upper <NUM> and lower <NUM> eyelids and the eyelashes <NUM> and <NUM> to be treated by the device <NUM> at the same time. The head <NUM> is formed with a shallow well <NUM> adjacent a free end of the cleaning head <NUM>. The well <NUM> is for carrying soap. To clean the eyelids <NUM> and <NUM>, a gentle soap may be disposed in the shallow well <NUM> and held in a stationary position in contact with the upper and lower eyelids <NUM> and <NUM> of one eye and/or gently moved from side to side and/or up and down to change the vibrational contact with different areas of the eye lids.

The shape of the head <NUM> is conform to the eyelids <NUM> and <NUM> when closed. In addition, an elevated ridge may be formed in the cleaning head <NUM> to align with the juncture of the two closed eyelids, thus increasing the vibrational cleaning at the lid margins <NUM> and <NUM> and eyelashes <NUM> and <NUM>.

The cleaning head <NUM> may be formed from medical grade silicone, PVC, or other materials that are nonporous, bacteria resistant and hypoallergenic materials that are compatible with a human eye and eyelids. Different types of sanitizing regimens for the cleaning head <NUM> are suitable for use with the cleaning head <NUM> are contemplated. For example, the cleaning head <NUM> may be dipped in a sanitizing solution, such as hydrogen peroxide, after each eyelid is cleaned. Alternatively, sterile protective covers (not shown) can be used and placed over the cleaning head <NUM> after each use.

There are various advantages of the tool <NUM> relative to known devices for treating eye lids. The sonically vibrating cleaning head <NUM> provides relatively more effective cleaning of the eye lids, eye margins and eyelashes than other methods which utilize a rotating brush. Specifically, sonic vibrations are more efficient at removing debris on the eyelids that conventional methods and can be used on all skin types. The sonic cleansing technology disclosed herein uses thousands of pulsations per minute for deep eyelid cleansing. The vibrational energy breaks up crusts and deposits on the eyelids and eye margin. It also creates micro shock waves that can disrupt bacterial cell walls and creates turbulence within the soap to disrupt biofilms by creating pressure waves that creates shear forces and creates micro bubbles that forcefully propel against the tissues to dislodge debris/bacteria.

In addition, the tool <NUM> requires little manual dexterity which makes it suitable by children and the elderly with dexterity issues. It also allows for the eye to be gently closed during treatment which is more comforting to persons not having to look at an object coming toward their eye. Also, having both eyelids treated at the same time increases compliance and decreases treatment time.

Optionally, each eyelid <NUM> and <NUM> may be treated separately. First, a gentle soap is applied to the upper eyelid <NUM> of one eye. In order to clean the upper eyelid <NUM>, it is partially closed, as shown in <FIG>. The upper eyelid margin <NUM> is gently rolled back by one finger. The cleaning head <NUM> is placed on the exposed upper eyelid margin <NUM> and upper eyelashes <NUM> and cleaned by the vibrating action of the cleaning head <NUM>. The soap may be removed from the upper eye lid <NUM> and eyelashes <NUM> with a gentle cloth and the cleaning head <NUM> is then sanitized or replaced before cleaning the lower eyelid <NUM>. Next, A gentle soap is applied to the lower eyelid <NUM>. The lower eyelid <NUM> is pulled down with one finger to expose the lower eyelid margin <NUM>. The cleaning head <NUM> is placed on the exposed lower eyelid margin <NUM> and lower eyelashes <NUM> and cleaned by the vibrating action of the cleaning head <NUM>. The process is repeated for the other eye. In one embodiment, there are no scrubbing pads or renewables to purchase for daily disposable use, the cost of treatment is greatly minimized.

The device <NUM> includes a power source <NUM>, for example, one or more rechargeable batteries, such as, lithium batteries or non-rechargeable batteries. The batteries <NUM> may be located in a removable bottom portion of the housing <NUM> which allows the batteries <NUM> to be removed and replaced or recharged. The device may also be configured to be charged by way of a USB port accessible from outside the housing <NUM>. The power source <NUM> may also be configured to be plugged in to a conventional <NUM>-volt ac receptacle by way of an external power cord (not shown). In such an embodiment, a conventional circuit for converting the <NUM>-volt ac to a DC voltage suitable for operating the vibration generator <NUM>.

Various embodiments of the switch <NUM> are contemplated. In one embodiment, the vibration generator <NUM> and the switch <NUM> may be configured with two modes of operation: an OFF mode and a CLEANING mode. In such a configuration, the switch <NUM> is used to connect the power source <NUM> to the vibration generator <NUM> in a CLEANING mode of operation when the switch <NUM> is turned to an ON position causing the cleaning head <NUM> to vibrate. When the switch <NUM> is in an OFF position, the cleaning head is stationary.

As mentioned above, the device <NUM> includes a vibration generator <NUM> that is attached to the cleaning head <NUM> in order to cause the cleaning head <NUM> to vibrate when the vibration generator <NUM> is turned ON. Vibration generators for hand held devices are known in the art. For example, <CIT> and <CIT>, as well as US Published Patent Application Nos. <CIT>; <CIT>; and <CIT> disclose a suitable vibration generator for use as the vibration generator <NUM>. The vibration generator <NUM>, power source <NUM> and the switch <NUM> are all electrically coupled together.

Claim 1:
A device (<NUM>) for cleaning human eyelids (<NUM>, <NUM>), eye margins (<NUM>, <NUM>) and eyelashes (<NUM>, <NUM>), the device comprising:
a housing (<NUM>);
a power source;
a sonic vibration generator (<NUM>);
a switch (<NUM>), wherein said vibration generator, power source and said switch are electrically coupled together and carried by said housing; and
a cleaning head (<NUM>) attached to one end of said housing to enable the cleaning head to vibrate when said sonic vibration generator is turned on,
characterised in that
a shape of the cleaning head conforms to eyelids when closed, wherein the cleaning head comprises a shallow well (<NUM>) for carrying soap adjacent a free end of the cleaning head.