An apparatus for holding eyelids open

Alexander Barash of Illinois was recently granted a patent for an "apparatus for opening and holding eyelids open" (Patent No. 10842477).

The apparatus includes a supporting platform having a Y-type shape and including an upper beam configured for extending between a nose bridge and a forehead of the patient and for positioning on the forehead, a left leg and a right leg coupled to the upper beam, and configured for straddling a nose bridge of the patient and for positioning on patient's left and right cheeks, and a cross-arm mounted on the upper beam of the supporting platform. The apparatus also includes an opening assembly mounted on the cross-arm and configured for pulling an upper eyelid up for exposing an eye and retaining the eye of the patient in the open position.

I guess that A Clockwork Orange didn't count as prior art.

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Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over forty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. Contact Us

Posted By: Alex - Sat Dec 12, 2020
Category: Inventions | Patents | Eyes and Vision

Comments

The equipment in A Clockwork Orange is pretty standard for ophthalmic surgery.

Posted by Frank Harris on 12/12/20 at 05:33 PM

That looks very much like what the doc used when she worked on my eye after a slight hemorrhage a few years ago. I did think about the prop used in the movie when her assistant uncovered the tray as we were starting.

Posted by KDP on 12/13/20 at 12:57 PM

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