The invention is related to the general field of wound treatment, and to the more specific field of devices for wound drainage and therapy by vacuum.
It is well known to apply vacuum under air-tight wound covers in treating wounds. The vacuum can be used to suction wound exudate and other liquids from the wound and wound packing materials, and can be applied as a healing modality for its well known antiseptic and tissue regeneration effects.
The earliest devices for vacuum assisted wound therapy merely ran a tube, such as a Jackson Pratt hemovac drain or other similar tube with a ported distal end, under the edge of wound cover and applied an adhesive or paste around tube to maintain the air-tight seal. The other end of the tube was connectable to a pressure regulator of a hospital vacuum system, and sufficient negative pressure was applied to drain the wound and assist in healing. These devices reduced the frequency of dressing changes and the risk of infection as compared to conventional dressings. See, e.g., M. E, Chariker, et al, “Effective Management of Incisional and Cutaneous Fistulae with Closed Suction Wound Drainage”, Contemporary Surgery, vol. 34, June 1989, pages 59-63. Other similar devices connected the end of a vacuum suction tube into a foam pad or other wound packing, and used a separate fluid supply tube for introducing medications or flushing fluid into the pad or wound packing, See, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,382,441 (Svedman).
The adhesive seal around the vacuum tube or tubes which run under the edge of the wound cover in these prior wound dressings is vulnerable to cracking and breaching the air-tight seal created by the cover. Devices with more durable vacuum tube connections include using a tube with a flared or flanged distal end that can be fixed directly to the wound cover over a hole punched into the cover, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,367,332 (Groves). U.S. Pat. No. 6,071,267 (Zamierowski) discloses a combination of these prior art devices in which a medication supply tube runs under the edge of the primary cover and a vacuum tube is connected into a foam pad located over a hole in the primary cover. U.S. Pat. No. 6,345,623 (Heaton) discloses another approach in which a suction head having a vacuum tube connector is placed on a foam pad in the wound, then a surgical drape with a hole in its center is placed over the suction head such that the connector protrudes up through the hole.
In their efforts to improve over these prior art devices, the present inventors considered several design objectives; including the objective of providing greater integrity to the seal between the primary wound cover and the skin, and determined that it would be preferable to locate the tube attachment on the outside of the primary wound cover rather than running the tube or tubes under the edge of the cover or through a slot or a seam in the cover. In addition to providing a more secure seal, locating the tube attachment on the outside of the primary wound cover allows the wound packing materials to be optimized to promote tissue growth and wound healing, since the packing materials do not need to provide support or connection for the tubes.
Locating the vacuum tube attachment on the outside of the primary wound cover can be accomplished by a tube that is integrally attached to the primary cover and that has a sidewall port located over a hole in the primary cover, as shown in published application US 20040064132. However, another design consideration for the present invention was that it would be an advantage over prior vacuum dressings to provide the tube attachment in the form of a patch that can be applied to a primary wound cover, rather than as an integral part of the outer surface of the cover. This feature allows the same patch to be used with primary wound dressing covers of different sizes and shapes, and allows the caregiver to locate the patch in the most convenient location over the wound, as opposed to using an integral device in which the tube is attached over a hole at a fixed location on the primary cover. As an additional advantage, the same patch can be detached and reused on a new primary cover when the dressing is changed, and in the rare event of a patch needing to be replaced, it can be replaced without removing the primary cover from the wound.
In the course of developing a vacuum assisted wound system using a tube attachment patch, the inventors discovered that the patch can be used by itself to provide a vacuum applicator over small wounds. Although not a primary objective, this alternative use should be considered an additional aspect of the invention.
These and other advantages and aspects of the invention will become apparent upon reading the detailed description and drawings which follow.
In the aspect of the invention relating to the vacuum tube attachment for a vacuum assisted wound dressing, the invention provides an attachment device in the form of a patch that can be attached to the primary wound cover. The patch forms a substantially air-tight seal to the primary wound cover, and a vacuum tube is fixed to the patch such that the patch can be oriented on the wound cover to locate the tube near an opening in the cover to allow vacuum pressure to be communicated to the wound. The patch has an adhesive area around its perimeter for attaching the patch in a substantially air-tight seal to the wound cover at any convenient location on the cover. The caregiver merely cuts an opening in the cover and applies the patch over the opening such the patch supports the tube near the opening.
In one embodiment, the patch has fixed to it a frame holding the vacuum tube, or holding a plurality of tubes including the vacuum tube. In a preferred version of this embodiment, there are two tubes in a spaced parallel relationship in the frame, and the patch may be applied to the primary cover with the opening located between the tubes. The second tube may be used for monitoring pressure in the system or monitoring some other parameter of the dressing or wound, or it may be used to supply medication or flushing fluids to the wound. The frame may also be formed as an enclosure that creates an effective suction chamber around a ported portion of the tube or tubes. The patch includes a transparent thin film bonded to the sides of the frame which extends outward from the frame and has adhesive material applied to it at the perimeter of the patch.
The vacuum tube preferably has a portion at or near the distal end which has a plurality of circumferential flanges, and has ports located in the troughs between adjacent flanges. The invention will work if the flanges are partial and only extend over a bottom portion of the circumference. The flanges prevent the primary wound cover from being drawn against or into the ports and blocking them.
In another embodiment, the patch is a sheet of flexible material having a thickness substantially greater than the thickness of the primary wound cover. An aperture is cut into in the sheet, and a vacuum tube having a port in its side wall is attached to the sheet over the aperture, in an orientation such that the portion of the tube over the aperture lies substantially parallel to the sheet and the port is substantially in register with the aperture. The patch has an adhesive area around its perimeter for attaching the patch in a substantially air-tight seal to the wound cover at any convenient location on the primary cover.
In the aspect of the invention relating to vacuum assisted wound dressings, the tube attachment devices may be used in combination with a primary wound cover, or applied directly to the skin surrounding smaller wounds.
In the drawings and description which follow, a device for attaching a vacuum tube to a vacuum assisted wound dressing is shown in embodiments in which the device is a tube attachment patch that can be adhered to the outer surface of a sealed wound cover in any one of various locations on the cover. Thus, a thin-film wound dressing of a standard size or shape can be applied in a substantially air-tight seal to the skin surrounding a wound without regard to locating a fixed, tube connector over the wound, or to creating a seam between sheets of film through which to pass a tube. Instead, the film dressing can be applied as the primary wound cover in an orientation suited for patient comfort and the integrity of the air-tight seal, following which a small air opening can be cut in the cover and the tube attachment patch applied over the opening to maintain the overall vacuum seal. Several embodiments of a tube attachment patch, not intended to be exhaustive or limiting, are described herein.
The embodiment of tube attachment patch 10 shown in
Although a single tube to apply the vacuum pressure is sufficient for a vacuum assisted wound dressing, the frame 18 may also hold a second tube 20 in spaced parallel relation to the vacuum tube 16, whereby the patch 10 can be oriented on the wound cover 14 such that the opening (not shown) made in the cover is positioned between the two tubes 16, 20. The second tube 20 may be adapted for monitoring the operation of the vacuum assisted wound dressing, such as sensing excessive air flow as an indication of a leak in or around the wound cover. Alternatively, the second tube may be extended beyond the vacuum tube such that the second tube can be inserted through the opening made in the wound cover to the wound packing and used to deliver liquids to more effectively flush the wound or apply medication. Another alternative is that the vacuum tube 16 could be a coaxial tube with two lumens (not shown), one lumen for applying the vacuum pressure and the other for monitoring the operation of the wound dressing or delivering fluids.
The frame 18 is merely a robust structure of the patch to which the tube or tubes are physically connected, rather than connecting them to the thin film material of the patch. A simple frame can be made, for example, by heat welding a piece of relatively thick plastic, such as ten mil thickness urethane, to the top surface of the tube or tubes, and then heat welding the edges of the thick urethane piece to the thin film of the patch. 10. In an embodiment as shown in
A portion of the vacuum tube 16 within the area formed by the frame 18 has a plurality circumferential flanges 30, and has vacuum communication ports 32 located in the troughs 34 between adjacent flanges. The second tube 20 may have a similar configuration. Although two ports are shown in each tube in the embodiment of
The patch of
The adhesive material 12 may be applied to the underside of the film 38 around the perimeter of the patch to effect an air tight adherence to the primary cover. Preferably the adhesive material is a pressure release adhesive having a release force sufficient to maintain the air tight seal, but low enough to allow the patch 10 to be removed and reapplied to the same cover, or to a new cover, during dressing changes.
As shown in
For convenience in handling, shipping and application, the patch 10 as shown in
In a second embodiment shown in
The tube attachment patches shown and described above can be used as part of a combination vacuum assisted wound system, including a primary wound cover, or be applied directly over smaller wounds to apply vacuum therapy. When applied directly over smaller wounds, the adhesive material of the patch provides a conforming air tight seal between the perimeter of the patch and the skin surrounding a wound.
This application is a Continuation Application of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/342,238, entitled Tube Attachment Device for Wound Treatment, filed Dec. 23, 2008, which is a Continuation Application of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/181,128, entitled Tube Attachment Device for Wound Treatment, filed Jul. 14, 2005, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/625,880, entitled Tube Attachment Cover for Vacuum Application in Wound Treatment and Method of Manufacturing Same, filed Nov. 8, 2008.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60625880 | Nov 2004 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 12342238 | Dec 2008 | US |
Child | 14747504 | US | |
Parent | 11181128 | Jul 2005 | US |
Child | 12342238 | US |