Patent ID: 6179159
Filing Date: 2001-01-30
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
A combination dispensing package containing digit covers for use in reducing cross-patient contamination from use of a pulse oximeter probe, comprising:(a) a plurality of digit cover; each of said covers in flattened tubular shape and made of flexible material which is impervious to infectious agents and transparent to light passage; each of said covers including an open end leading into a tubular interior; each of said covers expandable from said flattened tubular shape to an un-flattened tubular shape sized for fitting over a distal end of a human digit to envelop a portion of the digit to serve as an infectious agent barrier; each of the digit covers includes a front panel and a back panel; each of the front panels having a terminal edge adjacent the open end of the cover; the back panels each having an extending portion extending beyond the terminal edge of the front panel; said digit covers stacked one upon the other with the extending portions of the back panels in stacked alignment with one another;(b) a dispensing package having an exterior material shell defining an interior area containing said plurality of digit covers in said flattened tubular shape with the extending portion of each of the back panels secured relatively stationary to said package; said package including openable means for allowing access to said interior area and to said digit covers for removal of the digit covers from said package.