The present disclosure relates generally to medical drapes and, more particularly, to medical drapes with integrated toolkits.
The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventor, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Medical drapes, also termed surgical drapes, are commonly used in medical procedures to isolate a surgery site of a patient for treatment. These drapes are formed of sterile fabrics or fabric-like materials and protect the surgery site from contamination. In typical configurations, drapes define an opening that is placed at the surgery site using an adhesive or other sealing mechanism that functions to hold the drape in place, while the drape barrier extends outwardly from that opening providing a protective covering. As such, drape material and sizing are chosen to protect the subject and the surgery professionals from blood and other liquids, from dirt and other environmental contaminants, as well as reduce the incidence of surgical infection.
Drapes are routinely used in sterilized environments, such as emergency rooms, but drapes are also used in-theater for urgent response in environments that are often unpredictable and lacking suitable sterility to otherwise protect patients and surgeons. Furthermore, these environments often require immediate action by a tending physician or other health care provider, where patient outcomes can be affected by delays of even a few minutes. In such environments, a drape must be positioned quickly and in a manner that the drape does not interfere with the surgery about to take place.
There is, as a result, a need for better, more useful drape designs, designs that will increase surgical efficiency, reduce surgical error, and ideally improve patient outcomes and prospects.
The present invention provides medical drapes that may be quickly deployed in place for protecting an area of a patient in need of a medical procedure. More specifically, the medical drapes include integrated toolkits that includes medical/surgical tools for use in the medical/surgical procedure. Furthermore, the medical drapes can also include selectively deployable adhesives for rapid fixturing of the drapes to the patient. The medical drapes are formed of fully or partially sterile materials and formed into packages having a stored state, in which the medical drape is itself protected against contamination, and a deployed state, in which the medical drape is placed on the patient and ready for the medical procedure. In the stored state, the medical drape houses or otherwise maintains the toolkit, such that the toolkit is also protected against contamination. Upon deployment of the medical drape, the toolkit is exposed for access by medical professionals, thereby allowing the toolkit to be used for the medical procedure.
In some examples, the tools are maintained in a toolkit housing that is adhesively attached to a fabric or fabric-like cover of the drape in the stored positioned, such that upon changing the drape to the deployed positioned the toolkit is positioned at or adjacent to a drape opening for ease of access near the site of the procedure. In some examples, an absolute position of the toolkit changes by the act of deploying the drape. For example, unpacking the drape cover can result in a change in the position of the toolkit relative to some fixed point on that cover. In some examples, the toolkit position does not change, just the state of the drape changes from stored to deployed to allow access to the toolkit.
In some examples, the toolkit itself has two states, a stored state that corresponds to the stored state of the drape, in which the toolkit is not accessible, but rather is preferably maintained sealed and sterile against contamination. In some examples, the toolkit has an exposed state that may or may not correspond to the deployed state of the drape. In some examples, when the drape is in the deployed state, the toolkit is still in the stored state, in that the toolkit tools are not accessible by a medical professional unless further actions are taken, such as removal of a toolkit cover layer. In yet other examples, the toolkit maybe placed in an exposed state, ready for access by medical professionals, when the drape is in the deployed state. In these later examples, the medical professional may find some or all of the tools in the toolkit immediately accessible, without further action, by virtue of the deployment of the drape. The integration of the toolkit with the drape cover allows for such varied configurations.
In some examples, the toolkit is integrated with the drape cover using an adhesive attachment mechanism or means. The attachment mechanism or means may be a removable attachment or a fixed attachment. In yet other examples, the attachment allows for adjustment of the toolkit relative to the drape cover. In some examples, the toolkit is integrated with the drape cover by or through a non-removable attachment. In some examples, the toolkit is integrated by forming some or all of a toolkit housing with the drape cover. For example, the drape cover can be integrally formed as the backing of the toolkit, which reduces the numbers of materials used and can make for a smaller-profile medical drape.
The toolkit may be formed to include one or more tools. The toolkits may include tools selected for specific medical procedures. In some examples the toolkits and their contents are: cricothyrotomy toolkit containing: (scalpel, hemostats, gauze, tracheal hook, syringes, local anesthetic, hypodermic needles, bougie, securing ties, antiseptic, etc.), central venous catheter insertion tool kits containing (scalpels, antiseptic, sutures, gauze, needle driver, syringes, hypodermic needles, scissors, occlusive dressings, guidewires, vessel dilators, central line, etc.), arterial catheter insertion toolkits containing (scalpel, antiseptics, gauze, local anesthetic, arterial catheter, guidewires, needed driver, suture, occlusive dressing, etc.) , tube thoracostomy insertion toolkits containing (scalpels, antiseptic, gauze, Kelley forceps, Rochester Pean forceps, sutures, needle driver, Heimlich valve, chest tube, syringes, hypodermic needles, sutures, occlusive dressings, etc.), urinary catheter insertion toolkits containing (antiseptic, gauze, lubrication, urinary catheter, collection back, syringes, etc.) laceration repair toolkits containing (sutures, needle driver, forceps, hemostats, scissors, hypodermic needs, syringes, local anesthetic, gauze, antiseptic, etc.), peripheral intravenous catheter insertion toolkits containing (intravenous catheters, antiseptic, tourniquet, gauze, syringes, adhesive tape, etc.).
In some examples, the tools within the toolkit are positioned for preferred access by a medical professional when the drape is in the deployed mode. That is, in some examples, the toolkit is positioned relative to the drape opening and the tools are arranged in the toolkit so that the medical professional accessing the tools does not have to turn or pivot to the toolkit (or tool holder), for access. Having such optimized tool orientation in an integrated toolkit decreases the chance of contamination during the medical procedure. And in emergency applications, the optimized tool orientation can help speed up execution of medical procedure steps. The tools, for example, may be placed in the toolkit in a particular order, such as the order of use during a procedure, and in a particular orientation, such as the orientation for which the medical professional would seek to access the tool for immediate use, without re-orienting the tool.
In some examples, individual tools are integrally attached to the drape cover, such that by moving the drape from the stored mode to the deployed mode, exposes one or more individual tools for immediate access by a medical professional. In some examples, some tools are in an exposed mode during the deployed mode, and thus immediately accessible to a medical professional, while other tools are maintained sealed, at least initially, while the drape is changed to the deployed mode.
In some examples, the drape can be adhesively attached to the patient. In some examples, the drape adhesive can be selectively deployed while the drape is positioned on the patient. In some examples, the drape adhesive can be selectively deployed via a pull tab(s) or other means such that the drape can remain substantially against the patient during adhesive activation.
In accordance with an example, a medical drape for placement on a subject for affecting a medical procedure, the medical drape comprises: a foldable drape cover for covering at least a portion of subject when the medical drape is in the deployed position, the foldable drape cover having an opening or access region configured to be place a target area of the subject in the deployed position, the foldable drape cover further having one or more adhesive attachment regions positioned to attach the foldable drape cover to the subject when the medical drape is in the deployed position, the foldable drape cover further configured to fold onto itself in a stored position of the medical drape; and a medical toolkit integrated to the foldable drape cover and configured to be protected from access when the foldable drape cover is in the stored position and configured to expose one or more tools for use in the medical procedure, when the medical drape is in the deployed position.
In accordance with an example, a drape is provided that includes a foldable drape cover for covering at least a portion of subject when the medical drape is in the deployed position, the foldable drape cover having an opening or access region configured to be place a target area of the subject in the deployed position, the foldable drape cover further having one or more releasable attachment regions positioned to attach the foldable drape cover to the subject when the medical drape is in the deployed position, the foldable drape cover further configured to fold onto itself in a stored position of the medical drape. The releasable attachment regions may be adhesive regions, for example.
In accordance with an example, a medical toolkit is provided with selective deployable releasable attachment regions, such as deployable adhesive regions, for allowing the toolkit to be attached to a drape, for example, at specific locations on the drape for use of the toolkit during a medical procedure.
The figures described below depict various aspects of the system and methods disclosed herein. It should be understood that each figure depicts an embodiment of a particular aspect of the disclosed system and methods, and that each of the figures is intended to accord with a possible embodiment thereof. Further, wherever possible, the following description refers to the reference numerals included in the following figures, in which features depicted in multiple figures are designated with consistent reference numerals.
The present invention provides medical drapes that may be quickly deployed in place for protecting an area of a patient in need of a medical procedure. More specifically, the medical drapes include integrated toolkits that includes medical/surgical tools for use in the medical/surgical procedure. The medical drapes are formed of fully or partially sterile materials and formed into packages having a stored state, in which the medical drape is itself protected against contamination, and a deployed state, in which the medical drape is placed on the patient and ready for the medical procedure. In the stored state, the medical drape houses or otherwise maintains the toolkit, such that the toolkit is also protected against contamination. Upon deployment of the medical drape, the toolkit is exposed for access by medical professionals, thereby allowing the toolkit to be used for the medical procedure.
The toolkit 100 is integrated into the medical drape 102, which further includes a drape cover 122 for protecting the patient. The drape 102 is shown in a deployed position in
In some examples, the toolkit 100 is removable from the drape cover 122, for example, through a releasable mechanism such as an adhesive layer, hook and loop fastener(s), clips, or slots between a backing of the toolkit and an upper surface of the drape cover.
Any number of toolkits may be used in place of the toolkit 100.
In examples herein, toolkits are formed with housings that include recesses for maintaining tools in place. In some examples, the housing has a separate recess for each tool. The housing and recesses may be formed of a pliable polyurethane or other biocompatible plastic or paper material. In some examples, the recesses are configured into press-fits for maintaining tools in place, through a pinching fit, until removed by a medical professional. In some examples, the recesses have flanged openings for maintaining tools in place, until removed by a medical professional. In some examples, the housing is configured to maintain the tools against release at different orientations of the toolkit during a medical procedure. For example, the housing may be configured, through flanged openings on recesses, press-fits, graduated weighting changes over the housing, or other features to maintain tools in place whether the toolkit is orientated in a horizontal plane, in a vertical plane, or tilted between those two orientations.
Any number of toolkits may be integrated into a drape. These include, without limitation, cricothyrotomy kits, tube thoracostomy kits, central venous catheter placement kits, arterial catheter placement kits, urinary catheter placement kits, suture kits, and peripheral intravenous catheter placement and laceration repair kits.
The adhesion between the toolkit and drape cover may be achieved in numerous different ways and is not limited to use of an adhesive material. Furthermore, the releasable attachment between the toolkit and the drape cover can be configured to allow the toolkit to be moved into place and adhere to the drape cover at specified locations and in specific or various orientations selected by the medical professional during placement. In some examples, the toolkit and the drape cover are releasably attached through a VELCRO engagement between marrying patches on the toolkit and the drape cover. In some examples, the releasable attachment, e.g., the adhesive, may be activatable. For example, a unifying pull tab may extend outwardly from the toolkit for access by medical personal and configured to expose one or more adhesive patches. For example, to activate the adhesive, a medical professional could hold the drape with one hand over the desired spot to be placed, then with the other hand pull the pull tab which then exposes the adhesive instantly sticking it to where you have held the drape. The pull tab may he placed such that is easy to grab with the toolkit positioned in place. For example, the pull tab may extend out from the side of the toolkit. There may be multiple discrete adhesive zones all attached together by the pull strip, or it could be one single adhesive zone.
In examples, where the toolkit is pre-attached to the drape cover during deployment and is to be released when the drape is deployed for a medical procedure, the toolkit may be releasably be attached to the drape cover through one or more adhesive patches, VELCRO attachments, perforated film having a pull release, a pull tab mechanism, a zipper, or any combination thereof, or any other suitable attachment mechanism, each of which may be considered attachment means herein.
The pull tab 702 may be accessible when the drape or toolkit is already positioned flush against the object you want it to stick to. The pull tab 702 can be accessible from the side of the drape/toolkit or also through a slot through the drape/toolkit. In some examples, the releasable attachment, e.g., a cover 706 for the adhesive backing 704, may be activatable. For example, a unifying pull tab 702 may extend outwardly from the toolkit for access by medical personal and configured to expose one or more adhesive patches. For example, to activate the adhesive, a medical professional could hold the drape 700 with one hand over the desired spot to be placed, then with the other hand pull the pull tab which then exposes the adhesive instantly sticking it to where you have held the drape 700. The pull tab 702 may be placed such that is easy to grab with the toolkit positioned in place. For example, the pull tab 702 may extend out from the side of the toolkit. There may be multiple discrete adhesive zones all attached together by the pull strip, or it could be one single adhesive zone.
In some examples, the pull tab 702 is preferably attached to the adhesive strip cover at a location 708, and the rest of the pull tab 702 is not attached. In some examples, the pull tab 702 is preferably is connected to the opposing edge of the adhesive backing 704. That way, when the pull tab is pulled by the user, the pull tab will tend to strategically peel the adhesive backing off starting at the opposite edge. The user can then continue to pull to reveal the full adhesive strip or strips (e.g., if multiple adhesive backings were attached to a single pull tab).
While the present invention has been described with reference to specific examples, which are intended to be illustrative only and not to be limiting of the invention, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that changes, additions and/or deletions may be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
The foregoing description is given for clearness of understanding; and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom, as modifications within the scope of the invention may be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art.
Priority is claimed to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/067,648, filed Aug. 19, 2020, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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63067648 | Aug 2020 | US |