Patent Application
20230029178
The present disclosure relates to medical dressings comprising water resistant visual indicia.
Wound dressings used by civilian or hospital emergency response teams are typically deployed at the site of accidents or emergencies, in which the environment may include dirt, grime, sweat and other elements that can stay trapped in the dressing and cause an infection in the wound. In instances where wound dressings are applied in a sub-optimal or a non-aseptic environment, hospitals usually require that they be replaced promptly. By comparison, wound dressings applied in a hospital are in a cleaner environment and only needs to be changed when soiling occurs. However, wound dressings used in both situations may be identical, making it difficult to visually distinguish between dressings that require replacement and those that do not.
In order to provide a means of identification for wound dressings, personnel may improvise stickers or writings on the dressing to denote dressing conditions. For example, medics may be given colored-coded stickers or blank labels on which to write notes to help them identify the dressing as a candidate for replacement within a specified time-frame. While feasible, ad-hoc handwritten markings on dressings may smudge in the rain or sweat or other bodily fluids, thereby becoming illegible. Furthermore, adhesive labels deployed in a wet environment may not stick well in a wet environment. This increases the burden of the medical personnel tasked to carry out this additional step amidst a potentially chaotic environment and alongside other dressing application steps.
Therefore, there is a need for a more systematic and convenient way of marking dressings.
In one aspect, the present disclosure provides a wound dressing comprising a water-resistant visual indicia provided on a surface of the dressing.
In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a method of identifying a patient, comprising reading the water-resistant visual indicia on a wound dressing. In an embodiment, the visual indicia indicates the application environment of the wound dressing.
The techniques described herein shall be understood by the skilled person to be capable of variations and modification without departing from the essence of the claimed invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description as follows shall be regarded as illustrative.
Reference will now be made to exemplary embodiments as illustrated with reference to the accompanying figures. The figures together with a detailed description below, are incorporated in and form part of the specification, and serve to further illustrate the embodiments and explain various principles and advantages, in accordance with the present disclosure.
The present disclosure provides wound dressings comprising water resistant visual indicia arranged on a visible area of the dressing. Such wound dressings have the benefit of being adapted to carry visual information without risk of the external environment damaging the information being carried. Visual indicia may comprise machine readable code, enabling healthcare providers to attach parameters such as date, time, product code, time elapsed since dressing application, patient information, and so on, directly onto the dressing. By rendering the visual indicia water resistant, the wound dressings become readily deployable in both wet and dry environments, reducing the risk of soiling the visual indicia.
In this document, the following words and terms used herein shall have the following meaning:
The terms “water resistant”, “waterproof” and “water repellant” are used interchangeably and refer to the ability to resist the penetration of moisture or water at least to some degree. It also encompasses the ability to remain unaffected by the presence of water not withstanding direct contact with water.
The word “substantially” does not exclude “completely” e.g. a composition which is “substantially free” from a substance may be completely i.e. 100%, free from the substance.
Unless otherwise specified, the terms “comprising” and “comprise”, are intended to denote inclusivity such that a device comprising a set of recited element would not only include the recited elements, but also includes other additional, unrecited elements.
As used herein, the term “about”, in the context of physical dimensions, or chemical concentrations of components of the formulations, depending on the experience and skill of the technician, means up to +/−10% of the stated value, and more typically should vary between +/−5%, +/−4%, +/−3%, +/−2% or +/−1% of the stated value.
Referring to
In accordance with the present disclosure, visual indicia 106 is provided on a visible area of the dressing. In this embodiment, textual information is handwritten (or printed) on the top surface of the dressing. The top surface of the dressing may be adapted for water resistance by coating the substrate surface with a water resistant coating. In some embodiments, a hydrophobic coating or low surface energy coating may be applied. For example, an alcoholic suspension of SiO2 nanoparticles may be sprayed onto the area after the visual indicia has been printed or written. Fluorinated silanes and fluoropolymer coatings may also be used. A commercially available example of a usable hydrophobic coating includes 3M™ Scotchgard™ Heavy Duty Water Shield.
In this example, the visual indicia comprises the hand-written word “EMERGENCY”, which may serve to indicate to healthcare personnel of the fact that the dressing was administered to the patient in an emergency situation and can help to remind them that the dressing needs to be inspected regularly and changed, if necessary. More generally, the visual indicia may relate to a condition of the environment under which the dressing was applied onto a subject. In an embodiment, the visual indicia relates to patient information or an address or link to such patient information. Any other textual information may be used in place of the word “EMERGENCY” as may be appropriate. For water resistance, inks compatible with the water resistant surface of the dressing should be used. Marker pens which dispense waterproof pigment inks in organic solvents (e.g. toluene, xylene or alcohol) may be used to write such visual indicia.
In a preferred embodiment, the visual indicia is machine-printed onto the top surface of the dressing. In order to render the visual indicia water resistant, a water-insoluble printing ink may be used to print the visual indicia in conjunction with an inkjet printer or screen printing methods. Inks usable for this purpose include aqueous water insoluble inorganic inks, as well as inks comprising organic pigments and resins dissolved in an organic solvent. Commercially available inks include 3M™ Screen Printing Ink Series 1900, or Series 2900 inks, as well as 3M™ Reflective Ink for Textiles—8010. The visual indicia may also be laser printed using carbon black toner.
To enable the visual indicia on the dressing to withstand rain, perspiration, as well as to protect it from patient-tampering, dirt and abrasion, it is preferably provided on a water impermeable tag attached to a surface of the dressing. In am embodiment, the tag comprises a top sheet and a bottom sheet, the bottom sheet comprising a writeable surface on which the visual indicia is handwritten and the top sheet comprising a self-adhesive transparent film. comprising a writeable surface for receiving a water-resistant ink. In another embodiment, the visual indicia is written onto the tag and then sealed with a cover sheet. Referring to
In some situations, it may be desirable to have the visual indicia pre-printed onto a sheet label and then inserted within the tag. This allows the visual indicia to be mass printed beforehand and distributed to personnel for use with sealable tags on a particular incident or date, for example.
The present disclosure is applicable to any sort of wound dressing requiring labeling, and is particularly advantageous for deployment in the field, during situations of emergencies, accidents and disasters, either during wet or normal weather. Examples include bandages and Carlisle type first aid dressings (FAD), as well as gauze, films, foams and composite dressings applied in the hospitals.
In an embodiment, the wound dressing comprises intravenous (IV) catheter securement dressings. An IV catheter is a hollow needle device used to provide fluids such as blood, medication, or other fluids to a patient. Following insertion of the catheter into a patient, e.g. patient's vein via the skin, it is secured to the patient's skin with a dressing. A securement dressing is normally applied to the catheter insertion site to secure the catheter to the patient to prevent unintended removal of the catheter during the patient's movement. It also helps to minimize discomfort and to allow for subsequent connection to a fluid reservoir as needed. Furthermore, the securement dressing limits exposure of the catheter site to external elements, thereby preventing infection of the puncture wound.
IV catheters are frequently employed in both field situations and in the hospitals for the purpose of intravenously supplying fluids such as saline, pharmaceutical drugs, and water to the injured or sick via a catheter inserted into the arm. Conditions in the field often involve rain, dirt and grime, and visual indicia may be provided denoting the dressing as requiring change. In an IV catheter dressing, the dressing may comprise a transparent section comprising a flexible substrate layer, and an opaque section comprising a dressing layer, the dressing layer being attached to a portion of the flexible layer and configured with an incision from an edge thereof, the sheet assembly having a top-oriented surface and an opposing bottom-oriented surface, an adhesive disposed on the bottom surface of the sheet assembly, and at least one visual indicia is printed and arranged over the opaque section of the sheet assembly, wherein the visual indicia indicates the application environment of the wound dressing.
Visual indicia 406 may be printed or handwritten onto an IV securement dressing in accordance with any of the embodiments described above. In greater detail, as shown in
Other informational aspects of the dressing, the environment relating to the application of the dressing, or the subject's condition, or any other information, may be specified in place of the word “EMERGENCY”. Examples include words denoting the situation, location or date, and such visual indicia 606 may be printed on the securement dressing, or any other suitable location on the dressing, as shown in
In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a method of identifying a patient, comprising reading the visual indicia on a wound dressing as defined in the present disclosure. In a embodiment, the visual indicia indicates the application environment of the wound dressing. In another embodiment, the visual indicia comprises a machine-readable link to patient information stored on a server. In the daily operation of hospitals and clinics, productivity may be improved by equipping hospital personnel with dressings that include visual indicia, such as tags that can be mass-printed daily with the required information and attached to the dressing for use throughout each day. Rapid deployment can be achieved in this manner. Information on the tag may help nurses or medics determine, for example, the date of administration, the identity of the dressing administering personnel, and/or the location of administration. Such information may also include wound care instructions, or circumstances that the victim was in, and so on. The clinic or hospital may determine any other relevant information to be included as visual indicia as part of its standard operating procedure.
In cases where the textual information to be included as visual indicia is too lengthy to be included, it may be desirable to implement symbolic or encoded forms of visual indicia on the dressing instead. Accordingly, in one embodiment, the visual indicia comprises a machine readable code. Examples of a machine readable code includes a 1 dimensional bar code (640 of
In a further embodiment, the visual indicia comprises a barcode for a serial number or an alphabetic code assigned to the conditions surrounding the event, such as the location or date of the event. The barcode may also comprise code representing a stock count of the dressing used, so medical professionals may scan the barcode to check out a piece of dressing from a hospital or medic store, thus automating stock counting for dressings used. In another embodiment, the visual indicia comprises a QR code. The QR code may encode any of the following information: plain text, an email address, an SMS, or a vCard.
In a preferred embodiment, the visual indicia comprises QR code encoding a URL to a landing page of a website or database containing a patient's personal data or healthcare data, such as the patient's personal particulars, or circumstances leading to the patient's injury, or doctors' assessment of the patient's condition, and/or drug administration records, the date of administration of the dressing, the identity of the administering personnel, and/or the location of administration, and so on.
Various embodiments and implementation of the present disclosure have been disclosed. The disclosed embodiments are presented for purposes of illustration and not limitation. The implementations described above and other implementations are within the scope of the following claims. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the present disclosure can be practiced with embodiments and implementations other than those presented herein. Those having skill in the art will appreciate that many changes may be made to the details of the above-described embodiments and implementations without departing from the underlying principles thereof. The scope of the present application should, therefore, be determined only by the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019280098 | Dec 2019 | AU | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2020/061589 | 12/7/2020 | WO |
