Patent ID: 8491513
Filing Date: 2013-07-23
Classification: A61F

Abstract:
1. A protective device for protecting a human body part, such as the heel and the area around its bony prominence, where the bony prominence is the heel bone, and where a soft tissue layer extends between the bony prominence and an outer skin layer and wherein the bony prominence tends to concentrate the weight (W) of its associated body part over a small area (A1) and produce a compressive force due to a pressure (P1), which is equal to W/A1 at the interface between the bony prominence and its corresponding soft tissue layer when the body part is in direct contact with a support surface, and wherein P1 when applied for a time t1 tends to cause a pressure ulcer to develop in the body part associated with the bony prominence, the protective device comprising: a pad to be positioned between the support surface and the heel, said pad including a layer of material having a thickness profile and said pad having: wherein the inner surface of the pad conforms to, and maintains direct contact and conformity with, the shape of the heel and the area about its bony prominence , and the outer surface of the pad making contact with the support structure is constructed to reduce shear forces applied to the heel due to movement of the heel along and about the support surface; and wherein the top inner surface of the pad is sculpted to form a groove to receive the heel and the back of the heel region and the lower leg; and wherein said groove includes a curvilinear cut out attached to a tubular region, the curvilinear cut out for receiving the heel and the tubular region for receiving the back of the heel and the lower leg.