Patent ID: 8545463

Claim:
An ophthalmic fluid delivery device adapted to deliver an ophthalmic fluid in the form of a mist to an ocular region of a patient, the ophthalmic fluid delivery device having a body; the body including a nozzle assembly, an ultrasonic transducer assembly; and a reservoir assembly; the nozzle assembly dispensing the ophthalmic fluid from the transducer assembly; the body defining a cavity sized to accommodate the reservoir assembly, said body having a body surface contour positioned adjacent said cavity, said reservoir assembly comprising: a reservoir having a wall at least partially defining a cavity; an ophthalmic fluid contained in said cavity of said reservoir; said wall of said reservoir having a reservoir surface contour keyed to the body surface contour to permit insertion of said reservoir assembly into the cavity of the body of the ophthalmic fluid delivery device in a predetermined alignment and to prevent insertion of said reservoir assembly into the cavity of the body in an alignment other than said predetermined alignment; and a lumen that contacts said ophthalmic fluid, the lumen being dimensioned and configured to transport ophthalmic fluid from the reservoir assembly through the transducer by capillary action and has a structure to assure a capillary rise of said ophthalmic fluid sufficient for said ophthalmic fluid to exit said reservoir assembly, wherein the mist of ophthalmic fluid is expelled from the nozzle assembly directly to the ocular region so that the momentum of the mist when received at the ocular region has a magnitude that is insufficient to trigger a blinking or lacrimation reflex of an eye of the patient associated with the ocular region.