Apparatus and methods for preventing and/or healing pressure ulcers

Abstract

Protective devices, to protect a body part having a bony portion with a soft tissue layer between the bony portion and an outer skin layer, have an inner surface which conforms to the body part to be protected and are applied to the body part to reduce pressure exhibited at the interface between the bony portion and the soft tissue layer, across the soft tissue and outer skin layers and at the interface between the outer skin layer and a support surface. The protective devices may be made of any material suitable for distributing the weight of the body part over an extended area and volume and may include a mushy material, a hard shell, a hydro absorptive material, and a wound dressing with medication. The body part to be protected includes at least one of the heel, trochanter, knee, sacrum, coccyx, ischium, scapula, elbow, ankle, buttocks and occiput; The protective devices may be secured to the body part directly or via a garment or any other suitable securing means.

Description

[0001] This is a division of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 818,722 filed Mar. 27, 2001. [0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60 / 192,827 filed Mar. 29, 2000.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] This invention relates to devices intended to be applied to selected parts of a human body for preventing and / or healing pressure ulcers and to methods for determining the size and shape of the devices to be used. [0004] Pressure ulcers also referred to as “bed sores” or decubitus ulcers may be developed by individuals confined for an extended period of time to a particular position in a bed or chair. When a person is bed ridden or wheel chair bound due to such causes as an accident, illness, or extensive period of recovery from surgery, the body tends to be immobilized for an extended period of time. It has been noted that pressure ulcers occur most frequently in certain parts of the body, such as the heel and ankle, the trochanter, the...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0006] Applicants' invention resides, in part, in the recognition that certain parts of the body are prone to the development of pressure ulcers (i.e., bedsores) and that these parts of the body may be effectively protected by attaching or inserting a suitable protective device (e.g., padding and / or cushion and / or cast) between the body part and an underlying support structure (e.g., a bed or chair) in order to reduce the pressure exerted at the bone-soft tissue interface, across the corresponding soft tissue layer, and at the interface between the outer skin and the protective device.

[0008] Applicants' invention also resides, in part, in the recognition that, as to a particular body part, the weight from the overlying flesh and bony prominence exerted downward and outward from the bony prominence through the underlying soft tissue layer results in pressure(s) which may be reduced by the application of a protective device (“prosthesis”) to the particular body part. The prosthesis functions to increase the area over which the weight of the body part is distributed thereby decreasing the pressure at the interface between the bony prominence and the underlying soft tissue layer, across the soft tissue layer and at the contact area between the skin and any underlying support surface. In effect, the prosthesis functions to add thickness to the soft tissue over which the weight of the body part is distributed thereby decreasing the pressure at the interface between the bony prominence and the underlying soft tissue layer across the soft tissue layer and at the contact area between the skin and any underlying surface.

[0010] Alternatively, prostheses embodying the invention may be formed with a hard, relatively thin, shell which provides good weight distribution if the prosthesis is contoured to conform to the body part which it is intended to protect.

[0013] The application of a prosthesis embodying the invention to various body parts of a person enables that person to be placed on virtually any practical (or available) support structure (e.g., a hospital bed) for an extended period of time with little (or no) likelihood of the person developing a pressure ulcer.

Problems solved by technology

However, this is not a necessary condition due to the “conforming” nature of the mushy foams.

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