Wrist brace

Wrist brace comprising a sheet of flexible material having a first portion which is substantially non-stretchable and a second portion which is stretchable, said first and second portions being joined along a junction extending from the distal edge of said sheet to the proximal edge of said sheet.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 This invention relates to orthopedic wrist braces, more particularly, to a
 novel wrist brace which combines elastic and nonelastic fabric in its
 construction. The novel wrist brace makes it possible to vary the
 compression on the proximal portion of the wrist which is sought to be
 immobilized, while at the same time retaining freedom of movement of the
 distal portion of the hand.
 A wide variety of wrist support devices are known in the art. These include
 various types of sleeves and wraps, some of which are adjustable and some
 of which are not.
 A recent improvement in the state of the art is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.
 5,728,059, which discloses a wrist support comprised of a sheet of
 flexible elastic material having pockets for a rigid splint. The splint is
 formed with a curvature to conform to the user's wrist and palm. With the
 splint inserted into one of the pockets, the wrist support is wrapped
 around the wrist and hand and secured in place with a plurality of
 fastening wraps. The compression applied to the wrist by the wrist brace
 is adjustable by the fastening wraps, the position of which effects the
 degree of stretch of the elastic fabric, and thereby the compression on
 the wrist and hand.
 U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,804 describes a wrist brace which comprises a preformed
 shell, with an elastic tongue which extends across the shell (after the
 manner of a tongue in a shoe). The patient's hand is inserted into and
 through the shell, after which the shell is tightened using a multi-string
 lace extending over the elastic tongue. The device is said to provide even
 distribution of all forces to immobilize the wrist, but, having a shell
 composed of a three-layer composite including a thermoformable plastic,
 would appear to be relatively inflexible. In addition, the need to apply
 tension to the laces at the same time the fastening straps to which said
 laces are attached are latched makes this device relatively complicated to
 use.
 The prior art devices generally apply uniform compression over and around
 all portions of the wrist and hand to which they are applied. It would,
 however, be desirable to be able to apply greater compression to the
 proximal wrist, where it is needed, while at the same time maintaining a
 lesser compression on those portions of the hand where such compression is
 not needed and increased flexibility is desired.
 It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a wrist brace
 which enables the amount of compression applied to the regions of the hand
 and wrist to be different, so that a higher compression can be applied to
 the proximal wrist area while a lesser compression is applied to the
 distal hand region.
 It is a further object of the invention to provide a wrist brace which is
 easily applied and adjusted.
 It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a wrist
 brace which combines the convenience of an elastic slip-on sleeve, with
 the adjustable tensioning advantages of an open-wrap brace.
 It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an elastic
 wrist brace which avoids the use of natural latex.
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 These and other objects are achieved by the wrist brace of the present
 invention, which comprises a sheet of flexible material having a distal
 edge, proximal edge and opposite lateral edges; a first of said lateral
 edges being substantially straight and a second lateral edge being
 provided with a plurality of fastening straps extending laterally, and
 being fastenable to an outer surface of said sheet of flexible material, a
 first portion of said sheet being formed of an inelastic material and a
 second portion of which is formed of an elastic material, said first and
 second portions being joined along a generally spiraled junction extending
 from the distal edge of said sheet to the proximal edge of said sheet,
 said junction being closer to said first lateral edge at the distal edge
 and spaced further apart from said first lateral edge at the proximal edge
 of said sheet, the inside surface of said sheet comprising a sleeve of
 elastic material attached to the inelastic portion of said sheet,
 generally along said first lateral edge, said sleeve opening to
 accommodate the thumb of a patient to whom the wrist brace is to be
 applied.
 The elastic material from which the sleeve is formed may be the same or
 different than the elastic material forming the elastic portion of the
 sheet of flexible material.
 In a preferred embodiment, the wrist brace of the present invention further
 comprises a pocket, running longitudinally between the proximal edge and
 the distal edge, secured on the outside surface of the sheet opposite the
 sleeve, such as by sewing, and having an inward kink at the distal end
 thereof. The pocket is adapted to accommodate a substantially inflexible
 splint, which itself is adapted to the anatomy of the inner surface of the
 hand. The splint may be made of, for example, aluminum or plastic.
 It is also preferred that the fastening straps and the outside surface of
 the sheet material be provided with complementary hook and loop fastening
 means, such as that sold under the trademark VELCRO.RTM., although other
 fastening means, such as buckles, snap-on connectors and the like could
 also be used.
 In a further preferred embodiment, at least one of the fastening straps is
 of a length sufficient to wrap completely around the wrist of a patient
 when the wrist brace is applied to the patient's wrist.
 In a particularly preferred embodiment, the wrist brace includes a
 substantially inflexible splint inserted in the longitudinal pocket, said
 splint having a curvature at its distal end to fit the concave palmer area
 above the lunate bone.
 Optionally, the splint is reversible to fit either the left hand or the
 right hand.
 These and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention
 will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in
 conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
 The wrist brace 10, shown in FIG. 1, is formed of a sheet 11 of flexible
 material having a stretch portion 12 and a non-stretch portion 13 joined
 to each other along a generally spiraled junction 14. The spiraled
 junction is closer to lateral edge 15 at distal edge 16 than it is to
 lateral edge 15 at proximal edge 17. The width of the elastic portion 12
 of sheet 11 is thus greater at the distal portion and narrower at the
 proximal portion of the sheet.
 The inside surface of wrist brace 10 is provided with a sleeve 20 of
 elastic material attached to the inelastic portion 13 of wrist brace 10,
 generally along lateral edge 15. Since sleeve 20 is mainly intended to
 hold the wrist brace in position prior to tightening, the elastic material
 used to construct sleeve 20 can be of the same or different degree of
 elasticity as that of the elastic portion 12 of sheet 11. The material of
 which sleeve 20 is constructed can therefore be chosen to provide comfort
 and ease when inserting the hand into the sleeve, or can be chosen to be
 tight-fitting for additional support.
 Also shown in FIG. 1 are fastening straps 18 having one portion 19 of
 complementary hook and loop fasteners, said portion being either the hook
 portion or the loop portion.
 FIG. 2 shows the opposite side of the wrist brace shown in FIG. 1. In FIG.
 2, sleeve 20 is depicted having a thumb hole 21 and a longitudinal pocket
 23 into which a splint, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, may be inserted.
 The exposed surface of pocket 23 is provided with a portion of hook and
 loop fastening material 22 that complements the portion of hook and loop
 material 19, so that 19 is attachable to 23 by said hook and loop means.
 The hook and loop fastening portion 22 may, alternatively, be located at
 another position on the outside surface of wrist brace 10 instead of or in
 addition to the location on the exposed surface of pocket 23.
 FIG. 3 depicts a hand inserted into sleeve 20.
 FIG. 4 depicts the edge of the wrist brace shown in FIG. 3, with the
 fastening straps 18 being moved towards sleeve 20.
 FIG. 5 shows back-hand side of the wrist brace secured by attaching hook
 and loop portion 19 to the complementary hook and loop portion 22 on
 pocket 23, while the thumb of the hand passes through thumb hole 21.
 FIG. 6 shows the attachment of hook and loop portion 19 of straps 18 to
 complementary hook and loop portion 22.
 In a particularly preferred embodiment, at least one of the fastening
 straps 18, particularly preferably the middle strap, is constructed of a
 length sufficient to wrap completely around the wrist, as shown in FIGS. 1
 and 7.
 FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate alternative configurations of the splint 30, 40
 which can be inserted into pocket 23 of the wrist support. FIGS. 8 and 9
 illustrate frontal views of the splints, and FIGS. 8A and 9A illustrate
 side views.
 The splint 30 is an elongated member, preferably of a thin, rigid material
 such as metal or plastic. The splint material may also be chosen to
 provide some flexibility to permit limited flexion and extension movement
 of the user's wrist. The longitudinal and lateral dimensions of the splint
 are selected so that it fits in the pocket 23 to extend substantially from
 the proximal end to the distal end of the wrist support 10. The splint 30
 is shaped with a curvature 31, as shown in the side view of FIG. 8A, or a
 bend 33, as shown in FIG. 9A, to conform to the palm and wrist of the user
 to maintain the hand slightly in extension relative to the wrist.
 The splint optionally further includes a convex surface 32, 42 to conform
 with the palmar cavity of the user's hand.
 As shown in FIG. 8, the convex surface 32 may be formed by simply pressing
 one side of the splint to produce a concave hollow therein, thereby
 forming a complementary convex surface on the opposite side.
 The non-stretch portion 13 of wrist brace 10 may be constructed of any
 fabric that is non-stretchable or substantially non-stretchable.
 Preferably, the material will be one that contains no natural latex, since
 in some cases, natural latex products can cause allergic reactions to skin
 that is in contact with it. The non-stretch material should also be
 comfortable to the skin, and breathable, so that moisture can pass through
 it from the skin to the atmosphere. The material is preferably
 dimensionally stable. There are a wide variety of materials that will meet
 these criteria, such as the material marketed by GEHRING TEXTILES,
 INC..RTM. as SER FABRICS, and those marketed by GUILFORD HILLS, INC. as
 COOL FLEX.TM. fabric. A further example of fabric that can be used as the
 non-stretch portion of wrist brace 10 is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.
 5,385,036.
 The stretch portion of wrist brace 10 can be constructed of any of a
 variety of flexible and elastic materials. Such materials may be of the
 type that is elastic in one direction only, in which case stretch portion
 12 of wrist brace 10 will be elastic in the lateral direction only; or the
 materials may be elastic in both the lateral and longitudinal directions.
 The stretch portion of wrist brace 10 preferably contains no natural latex
 or natural latex products.
 Representative materials usable for this purpose are any material
 possessing elastic properties; for example, woven, non-woven or knit
 elastics, neoprene, neoprene blends, foams or laminates.
 Sleeve 20 is preferably constructed of a fabric, which is stretchable in
 both lateral and longitudinal directions, and can be the same or different
 than that of stretch portion 12 of the wrist brace. Particularly preferred
 materials are any material possessing elastic properties; for example,
 woven, non-woven or knit elastics, neoprene, neoprene blends, foams or
 laminates.
 The foregoing has described the preferred principles, embodiments and modes
 of operation of the present invention, however, the invention should not
 be construed as limited to the particular embodiments discussed. Instead,
 the above-described embodiments should be regarded as illustrative rather
 than restrictive, and it should be appreciated that variations, changes
 and equivalents may be made by others without departing from the scope of
 the present invention as defined by the following claims.