Patent ID: 11969159
Assignee: GSQUARED MEDICAL LLC
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 0:
1. A method of supporting excess or redundant tissue of a patient using a single unitary, flexible, stretchable adhesive tension member having a gel adhesive to maintain the excess or redundant tissue away from an incision or other existing wound; the tension member defining a top-to-bottom length sufficient to extend from a patient's panniculus to approximately a xyphoid process of the patient when the retractor is applied to a patient and a side-to-side width greater than one-half the top-to-bottom length of the tension member; the method comprising:
applying the single unitary, flexible, stretchable adhesive tension member directly to the patient such that the tension member is adhered at a first end to the excess or redundant tissue of the patient and is adhered at a second end opposite the first end to an anchor point on the patient, whereby, when the tension member is applied to the patient, the weight of the redundant tissue will place the tension member in tension and the tension member maintains the excess or redundant tissue away from the incision or other existing wound during healing of the incision or other wound;
leaving the tension member in place for more than one day; and
whereby, forces generated by the weight of the excess or redundant tissue are transferred through the gel adhesive to the tension member, such that the gel substantially protects the dermis of the patient from sheer forces generated by the weight of the excess or redundant tissue being evenly distributed to the dermis of the patient.