A PERMANENTLY DEFORMABLE DRESSING

Abstract: A dressing for covering a portion of the anatomical surface of a living being, said dressing being able to adhere to the skin, the mucosa and/or a wound on any portion of a living being without exposing the skin to a significant stress after application and said dressing showing a permanent deformation created before, during of after application of the dressing and wherein the dressing is optionally covered in part or fully by one or more release liners or cover films to be removed before or during application.

Description: TITLE A PERMANENTLY DEFORMABLE DRESSING FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to dressings, in particular dressings for covering a portion of the anatomical surface of a living being, methods for preparing such dressings, the use of a film being able to adhere to the skin for forming such dressings and a method of treating a portion of the anatomical surface of a living being, especially a protruding or retracted part of the body BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventionally, dressings for the treatment or prevention of wounds or pressure sores or even unbroken skin are essentially flat dressings which are sufficiently mouldable to be applied to flat or slightly curved areas of the body Such flat dressings are not very suitable for applying on protruding parts of the body or joints such as elbows, heels or especially the tips of fingers or toes or parts of the body having a very pronounced curvature such as the interdigital area as they of¬ ten wrinkle and focus stresses in the dressing often causing slipping of the adhe¬ sive and unintended detachment of the dressing Published European patent application No EP 0 676 183 A1 discloses conform¬ able adhesive bandages which are stated to be extremely conformable, and yet resilient enough to maintain its shape after being subjected to forces caused by movement of the wearer Furthermore it is stated that the recovered energy of the bandage disclosed in EP 0 676 183 A1 should be relatively high, so as to as¬ sure that the bandage will not permanently deform in use Such recovered en¬ ergy built-in into a dressing or bandage will inevitably try to retract it to its original shape if stretched during use and expose the skin to a significant stress which will cause nuisance to the user US patent No 4,436,700 discloses pressure sensitive adhesive sheet materials, which are stated to be conformable and having viscoelastic properties similar to human skin Furthermore it is stated, that the materials exhibit stress relaxation with time, having relaxation properties to recover to near original unstressed length, when all stress is removed Published European patent application No EP 0 457 977 A1 discloses a wound 5 dressing comprising a pad of soft polyurethane foam, one surface layer of which is hydrophilic and a backing layer of which is hydrophobic and a sheet or strip of a soft conformable polyether foam having an adhesive on one surface thereof, said dressing showing a sufficient elasticity to readily conform for extended peri¬ ods of time to difficult areas such as elbow joints and knee joints o US Patent No 1 ,741 ,949 discloses an elastic polyetherester nonwoven web formed by meltblowing fibres composed of a polyester A liquid plaster in the form of a solution of a polymer in ethyl acetate is known under the trade mark Nobecutan® Such a plaster will naturally conform to the area onto which it is applied but is highly unsuitable for application on broken or 5 irritated skin due to the content of ethyl acetate giving a severe local irritation Until now no reference discloses dressings being able to adhere to the skin, said dressing being flexible and mouldable so as to adapt to the contour of the part of the body to be covered and said dressing adhering to the skin and being able to adapt to and follow the movements of joints such as finger joints without expos- 0 mg the skin to a significant stress after application and being applicable directly on broken or irritated skin without unpleasant feeling One object of the invention is to provide a dressing being mouldable and flexible so as to be able to adapt to the contour of the part of the body to be covered and said dressing adhering to the skin and being able to adapt to and follow the 5 movements of the skin or joints such as finger joints Such dressing will be suit¬ able as e g a finger tip or toe tip dressing or a dressing suitable for use on joints and even in the interdigital area on the hand or foot Another object of the invention is to provide a dressing which may prevent e g wearing or abrasion damages, e g on heels or elbows, said dressing being pro¬ vided with a surface which may be adapted to the environment in which the dressing is to be used giving a longer effective time of use for the dressing be- tween the change of the dressing A further object of the invention is to provide a dressing which comprises emol¬ lients or an active constituent e g retinoids for treating or preventing formation of psoriasis, eczema, callous skin, corns, insect bites, acne or blisters A still further object of the invention is to provide processes for the preparation of such dressings BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a dressing for covering a portion of the anatomical sur¬ face of a living being, said dressing being able to adhere to the skin, the mucosa and/or a wound on any portion of a living being, and said dressing being mould- able so as to adapt to the contour of the part of the body to be covered Furthermore, the invention relates to the use of a film being able to adhere to the skin, said film showing permanent deformation created before or during applica¬ tion of the dressing for forming a dressing for covering a portion of the anatomi¬ cal surface of a living being The invention also relates to a method of treating a portion of the anatomical sur¬ face of a living being comprising applying a dressing being able to adhere to the skin, said dressing being mouldable so as to adapt to the contour of the part of the body to be covered BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention is explained more in detail with reference to the drawings in which Fig 1 shows a stress-strain curve for a dressing of the invention subjected to a 100% deformation using a predetermined load whereafter the stress is released, and Fig 2 shows a corresponding stress-strain curve for a conventional dressing (Tegaderm® Transparent Dressing) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION It has surprisingly been found that the objects of the invention may be fulfilled by a dressing according to the present invention The invention relates to a dressing for covering a portion of the surface of a living being, said dressing being able to adhere to the skin, the mucosa and/or a wound on any portion of the living being The dressing of the invention is characterised in that it is able to adhere to the skin, the mucosa and/or a wound on any portion of a living being without expos¬ ing the site to a significant stress after application and that the dressing shows a permanent deformation created before or during application of the dressing The dressing is optionally covered in part or fully by one or more release liners or cover films to be removed before or during application The dressing of the invention has surprisingly rendered it possible, when apply¬ ing a dressing to a protruding or essentially flat part of the body to stretch the dressing to suit the size of the part of the body to be covered whereafter the dressing will adapt rather tightly to the contour of the part of the body to be cov¬ ered and adhere to it without exposing the skin to a significant stress after appli¬ cation The dressing will adhere to the skin and follow later movements like a "second skin" which will ensure that the dressing does not tauten the skin or con- strict parts of the body The reduced stress will give a long wear time and the dressing of the invention only needs to be changed when it is "technically neces¬ sary" and many changes due to slipping are avoided Such dressing allows for a stretching of the dressing to be sufficiently deformed to be able to cover a protruding part of the body e g a finger, whereafter the dressing quickly adapts to the protruding part of the body and adheres to the same The dressing of the invention may be wrapped around an extremity such as a finger or stretched to cover e g the tip of a finger or a toe or may be stretched before application to an essentially flat area allowing for adaptation of the dressing to the actual portion of the body to be covered The dressing of the invention is thus very suitable for covering the area between fingers or toes and is also suitable for applying to "irregular" areas suffering from e g psoriasis According to the invention it is preferred that the stress necessary for producing an elongation of 100% is below 15 N/25 mm, more preferred below 10 N/25 mm and preferably at the most 8 N/25 mm Such characteristics enable an easy ad- aptation of the dressing to the area to be covered and ensures that a part of the body is not ligated if wrapped in the dressing The thickness is not considered as it is the characteristics of the dressing as such which is decisive, thus, the constituents of the dressing and a dressing of the invention may have a greater thickness given that the dressing fulfils the re- quirements stated herein It is preferred that the elongation at break is at least 100%, preferably at least 200% which allows for a suitable adaptation of the size of the dressing when ap¬ plying the same, especially when applying and stretching the dressing to cover the tip of the finger or a toe In order to ensure a sufficient low stress after application it is preferred that the dressing shows a permanent deformation of at least 60% after having been sub¬ jected to elongation of 100%, preferably a permanent deformation of at least 75% after having been subjected to elongation of 100% and suitably a perma¬ nent deformation of at least 80% after having been subjected to elongation of 100% Normally it is not preferred that the dressing shows a permanent deformation close to 100% after having been subjected to elongation of 100% as it is pre¬ ferred that a certain elasticity remains allowing the dressing to adapt perfectly to the site by a minor elastic contraction after application In one embodiment of the invention the film is inherently adhesive and may be applied directly In another embodiment of the invention, a layer of adhesive is applied to at least one surface of the film in order to impart adhesiveness to the film to stick to the site to be covered In a special embodiment of the invention, the dressing has at least one area be¬ ing distinct from the remaining of the dressing Such area may e g function as a marking indicating where to place the part of the body to be covered This en¬ sures that a protruding part of the body such as the tip of a finger is located cor¬ rectly before the dressing is stretched to adapt thereto and a deformation of the dressing beyond the elongation at break is prevented The marking may be in the form of a visible indication in the form of a mark or a distinct flat or minor three- dimensional part which need not having the stretchable characteπstics as stated above for the dressing as such The area may e g have a covering for the re¬ lease of pressure on pressure wounds Such covering may e g be in the form of a layer of a pad of a foamed mateπal which pad may have central portions which may be removed The invention also relates to a method for preparing a dressing for covering a portion of the anatomical surface of a living being, said dressing being able to adhere to the skin, the mucosa and/or a wound on any portion of a living being without exposing the skin to a significant stress after application which method comprises combining an adhesive with a conformable backing layer and a op¬ tionally a release liner and optionally a cover film The combination may be car¬ ried out in a manner known per se During the combination care should be taken that the conformable backing layer and the finished product are not subjected to stresses which will cause an elongation of the layer or finished product In a second aspect, the invention relates to the use of a film showing a perma¬ nent deformation created before or during application of the film for forming a dressing for covering a portion of the anatomical surface of a living being, said dressing being able to adhere to the skin, the mucosa and/or a wound on any portion of a living being without exposing the skin to a significant stress after ap¬ plication to the skin, said dressing being mouldable so as to adapt to the contour of a protruding part of the body to be covered When the dressing of the inven¬ tion is applied to a joint, the dressing may be applied when the joint is in its stretched position whereafter the joint is bended strecheing the dressing When the dressing is in its streched position it relaxes and will adhere to the skin and follow later movements of the joint like a "second skin" The surface to be covered with the dressing may be a protruding or retracted part of the body and the dressing is suitable for covering a part of the body hav- mg a double-curvature surface as e g the interdigital area of a hand or a foot or a joint such as wrist, an elbow, a heel, or a knee It is advantageous if the dressing according to the invention comprises wound healing associated ιndιcator(s), cushions or similar device for treatment or pro¬ phylaxis of formation of wounds and/or skin abnormalities This opens for a con- comitant medical treatment of the wound and an easy and non-contaminating application of the active ingredients, e g by incorporating active ingredients such as a cytochine such as growth hormone or a polypeptide growth factor or reti¬ noids giving rise to the incorporation of such active substances in a form being apt to local application in a wound in which the medicament may exercise its effect on the wound, other medicaments such as bacteπostatic or bactencide compounds, e.g iodine, lodopovidone complexes, chloramine, chlorohexidine, sil¬ ver salts, zinc or salts thereof, metronidazol, sulpha drugs, and penicillins, tissue- heahng enhancing agents, e.g. RGD tπpeptides and the like, enzymes for cleans- ing of wounds, e.g. pepsin, trypsin and the like, cytotoxic agents and proliferation inhibitors for use in for example surgical insertion of the product in cancer tissue and/or other therapeutic agents which optionally may be used for topical applica¬ tion, pain releasing agents, emollients, retinoids or agents having a cooling effect which is also considered an aspect of the invention In the present context growth hormone is intended to designate any growth hor¬ mone which is applicable in accordance with the invention such as human, bo¬ vine, ovine, porcine, equine, salmon or tuna growth hormone or analogues or derivatives thereof such as shortened or extended growth hormones such as me- thionyl growth hormone A growth hormone is preferably human growth hormone Wound healing associated ιndιcator(s) may e g be indicators of pH, partial pres¬ sure of 0 2 , temperature, radical mechanisms or biotechnological assays, e g in¬ dicating formation of collagen Furthermore, the invention relates to the use of a "blank" in the form of a film or dressing being able to adhere to the skin, the mucosa and/or a wound on any portion of a living being for forming a dressing being permanently "deformed" to fit the specific area to be covered being differently sized and being larger in at least one dimension than the blank In a third aspect, the invention relates to a method of treating a portion of the anatomical surface of a living being comprising applying a dressing showing a permanent deformation created before, during or after application of the dressing for covering a portion of the anatomical surface of a living being, said dressing being able to adhere to the skin, the mucosa and/or a wound on any portion of a living being without exposing the skin to a significant stress after application and wherein the dressing is, optionally covered in part or fully by one or more release liners or cover films to be removed before use, said dressing being applied by placing the same and stretching it so as to cover the part of the body whereafter the dressing is left and adheres to the skin A dressing of the invention is typically in the form of a laminate comprising a backing layer, a layer of adhesive and is optionally covered in part or fully by one or more release liners or cover films to be removed before use The dressing may furthermore comprise a top layer to be removed before use The backing layer may be any film or combination of films or layers which, in combination with the adhesive, shows the desired characteristics described above The film may e g be produced from a polyolefinic material or a polyure¬ thane material A film which is suitable is e g the film which is commercially available under the trademark Parafilm® The backing layer may e g be a combination or laminate of one or more films and/or optionally a fibrous layer such as a woven or non-woven or knitted layer The backing film may also comprise a fibrous layer such as a woven or non- woven or knitted layer on which a polymeric material has been coated by a man¬ ner known per se Such coating may be present on one or both sides of the film The skilled in the art will be able to establish a suitable combination of film and adhesive by routine experiments based on knowledge of the elastic and plastic characteristics of the materials The adhesive of a dressing of the invention may be any skin-friendly adhesive known per se being able to adhere to the skin, the mucosa and/or a wound on any portion of a living being and is preferably an adhesive comprising a hydro¬ colloid A suitable adhesive is e g a hydrocolloid-containing moisture absorb¬ ing material such as the adhesive disclosed in US patent No 4,367,732 The adhesive may also comprise a skin friendly acrylate adhesive containing hydro¬ philic areas The adhesive may be essentially uniform or be constituted by dis¬ tinct areas having different composition such as the adhesives disclosed in WO 89/05619 or in WO 94/15562 The adhesive may comprise fibres which may reinforce the adhesive A hydro¬ colloid may be particulate or in the form of fibres The living being may be an animal such as a domestic animal such as a horse, a cow or a pig or a pet such as a cat or a dog and is preferably a human being The top layer may e g be a layer of paper or a polymeric film Any conventional layers, films etc conventionally used as top layer on a dressing will be suitable as the characteristics of such a top layer or film is not critical for characteristics of the dressing of the invention as it is removed before application of the dressing The top layer or the backing layer of the dressing of the invention may provide a surface which shows e g abrasion resistance to provide a dressing which may prevent e g wearing or abrasion damages , e g on heels or elbows or the top layer or the backing layer of the dressing of the invention may provide surface which shows e g hydrophobicity to provide a dressing which is suitable to resist humid environments giving a longer effective time of use for the dressing be¬ tween the change the dressing Release liners which are suitable for use with the dressing of the invention can be made of kraft papers, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester or composites of any of these materials The liners are preferably coated with release agents such as fluorochemicals or silicones The release liner may if present, be removed before or after application If only removed after application the release liner may act as a handle during application MATERIALS AND METHODS Test of a dressing according to the invention as compared to a conven¬ tional elastic dressing Test of the physical characteristics according to the invention The physical characteristics is documented by the following stress-strain test procedure 1. A test sample - 25x90 mm - was cut out of the dressing to be tested and the release liner is removed before the test The sample was precondi¬ tioned at 23°C and 50% RH for at least 30 minutes before the test 2. The preconditioned test sample was mounted between the grips (type TG420 FH) at a Lloyd LR 5K test machine The initial gate length was 40 mm 3. The test specimen was extended until 100% strain at a speed of 5 mm/sec The max load (N) was measured during this test step 4. Immediately after reaching 100% strain the test specimen was allowed to retract at a speed of 5 mm/sec until a load of 0 1 N was reached The strain at this point defines the permanent deformation The test is an indirect control of elongation at break greater than 100% EXPERIMENTAL PART EXAMPLE Preparation of a dressing according to the invention. A pressure sensitive hydrocolloid adhesive (PSA) was prepared by compounding 100 g Vistanex® LH-MH (PIB) together with 100 g Blanose 9HXF (CMC) at 130°C for 30 minutes in a Linden 0 25 lab mixer A laminate consisting of a standard Parafilm ® ( American Can ), the PSA and a release liner (Siliconised paper Sterapap, AC/KV 120, supplied by Jackstadt A/S) was then prepared by heat pressing at 90°C at a pressure of 150 bar The laminate was cut into the desired dressing size Test of a dressing according to the invention as compared to conventional dressing. Figs 1 and 2 show the results of a test as defined above of a dressing according to the invention and of a conventional dressing (Tegaderm® Transparent Dress¬ ing from 3M) The curves show the results of three identical experiments each It appears from Fig 1 that a dressing according to the invention shows an initial steep rise of the stress followed by a decrease when further extended until 100% strain After allowing the specimen to retract until a load of 0 1 N, the dressing of the invention shows a permanent deformation of about 83% It appears from Fig 2 that a conventional dressing shows a quite different stress- strain curve The stress increases gradually during the extension until 100% strain and the dressing shows a more elastic behaviour and shows a permanent deformation of about 13% Test of stress relaxation of a backing film for a dressing according to the invention A standard Parafilm ® ( American Can ) was extended to 20% elongation and the relaxation after 1 minute was determined according to ASTM D882 The relaxation was about 33% indicating that a dressing according to the inven¬ tion comprising a backing film having a stress-relaxation characteristic like the standard Parafilm ® is able to adhere to the skin, the mucosa and/or a wound on any portion of a living being without exposing the site to a significant stress after application and that the dressing shows a permanent deformation created before or during application of the dressing Practical test of a dressing according to the invention. Blanks were prepared, using a Parafilm® coated with a hydrocolloid adhesive, containing hydrocolloids. They were tested in a group of volunteers (9 individu¬ als, suffering from finger cracks or skin irritation) as compared against a com- mercially available bandage (Compeed® Cuts & Grazes). The reports were significant and consistent: All test persons agreed that the tested product was extremely flexible with respect to the freedom of fitting the dressing to a specific injury, regardless the place of injury A common further re¬ mark was "It does not pinch the injury". The commercially available Compeed® Cuts & Grazes did not show the same degree of flexibility and adaptability as the dressing according to the invention

Claims: CLAIMS 1 A dressing for covering a portion of the anatomical surface of a living being, said dressing being able to adhere to the skin, the mucosa and/or a wound on any portion of a living being without exposing the skin to a significant stress after application and said dressing showing a permanent deformation created before or during application of the dressing and wherein the dressing is optionally cov¬ ered in part or fully by one or more release liners or cover films to be removed before or during application 2 A dressing as claimed in claim 1 , characterised in that the stress necessary for producing an elongation of 100% is below 15 N/inch 3 A dressing as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that the stress necessary for producing an elongation of 100% is below 10 N/mch 4 A dressing as claimed in any of claims 1 - 3, characterised in that the elonga¬ tion at break is at least 100% 5 A dressing as claimed in claim 4, characterised in that the elongation at break is at least 200% 6 A dressing as claimed in any of claims 1 - 5, characterised in that the dressing shows a permanent deformation of at least 60% after having been subjected to elongation of 100% 7 A dressing as claimed in claim 6, characterised in that the dressing shows a permanent deformation of at least 75% after having been subjected to elongation of 100% 8 A dressing as claimed in claim 7, characterised in that the dressing shows a permanent deformation of at least 85% after having been subjected to elongation of 100% 9 A dressing as claimed in any of claims 1 - 8, characterised in that the film is in- 5 herently adhesive 10 A dressing as claimed in any of claims 1 - 9, characterised in that a layer of adhesive is applied to at least one surface of the film 1 1 A dressing as claimed in any of claims 1 - 10 characterised in that the dress¬ ing has an area being distinct form the remaining of the dressing 10 12 Use of a film showing a permanent deformation created before or during ap¬ plication of the film for forming a dressing for covering a portion of the anatomical surface of a living being, said dressing being able to adhere to the skin, the mu¬ cosa and/or a wound on any portion of a living being without exposing the skin to a significant stress after application 15 13 A method of treating a portion of the anatomical surface of a living being comprising applying a dressing showing a permanent deformation created before or during application of the dressing for covering a portion of the anatomical sur¬ face of a living being, said dressing being able to adhere to the skin, the mucosa and/or a wound on any portion of a living being without exposing the skin to a 20 significant stress after application and wherein the dressing is, optionally covered in part or fully by one or more release liners or cover films to be removed before or during application, said dressing being applied by placing the same and stretching it so as to cover the part of the body whereafter the dressing is left and adheres to the skin

Inventors: MADSEN LARS BO, MARCUSSEN JAN, SCHOENFELDT LARS, MADSEN, LARS, BO, MARCUSSEN, JAN, SCHOENFELDT, LARS
Applicants: COLOPLAST AS, MADSEN LARS BO, MARCUSSEN JAN, SCHOENFELDT LARS, COLOPLAST A/S, MADSEN, LARS, BO, MARCUSSEN, JAN, SCHOENFELDT, LARS
Application year: 1997
Main classification: A61F13
IPC codes: A61F13