Abstract:
Advancements in bandages for treating puncture wounds shown and described herein include sealed bandage with flexible adhesive strips disposed on more rigid carriers with at least one separation line. Bending the sealed bandages separates the carrier along the path of the separation line(s) to thereby pull the strip away from the carrier in the vicinity of the separation line such that at least a portion of the carrier may be pulled from the strip and the bandage applied to a patient. This abstract is provided for the sole purpose of complying with the rules requiring an abstract to allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure contained herein. This abstract is submitted with the express understanding that it will not be used to interpret or to limit the scope or the meaning of the claims.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention is directed to systems, methods, apparatus and/or devices for dressing human and/or animal wounds. More particularly, the invention relates to the field of dressing puncture wounds with a bandage. Accordingly, the general objects of the invention are to provide novel systems, methods, apparatus and/or devices of such character. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   Bandages are widely used for the treatment of human and animal wounds of various types. These may include the simple application of gauze, taping gauze over the wound, the application of an adhesive strip bandage, or the application of a specialized bandage designed for a particular application. Although there is a wide range of bandages in use today, the most common dressing for a puncture wound due to the use of a blood withdrawal cannula is still primitive. For example, puncture wounds resulting from medical withdrawal of blood from a patient&#39;s inner elbow region are typically simply covered with a folded piece of gauze and held in place by bending the patient&#39;s elbow to pinch the gauze between the patient&#39;s forearm and upper arm. Naturally, requiring a patient to maintain this position for an extended period of time creates a number of problems. These may include (1) wound infection resulting from gauze contamination before application to the patient; (2) wound infection resulting from a patient&#39;s unwillingness and/or inability to maintain this position for a sufficient time; (3) discomfort and/or inconvenience to the patient; and/or (4) untidy disposal of the gauze upon removal, as intended or accidentally. For these and other reasons, such a wound may, instead, be dressed by placing the folded gauze over the puncture wound and then taping the gauze to the patient with one or more strips of medical adhesive tape. While this helps ensure that the gauze remains in place longer, it also creates several problems of it&#39;s own. These problems include: (1) the risk that the tape will be inadvertently and/or prematurely pulled loose from the patient; (2) the additional time and expense that a phlebotomist must devote to tape the gauze in place; and/or (3) the risk of wound infection resulting from gauze contamination before application to the patient. 
   There is, accordingly, a need in the art for novel methods, systems and apparatus for more reliably, efficiently and/or economically dressing puncture wounds. Such methods and apparatus should be well-suited to controlled medical environments such as clinics, hospitals, blood banks, blood drives, medical offices, etc. in which blood is intentionally drawn from patients. Further, such methods and apparatus should also be capable of dressing biopsy wounds. However, such methods and apparatus would also be useful to dress accidental puncture wounds. Such methods and apparatus should solve the above stated deficiencies without introducing additional expense and complexity to the blood-removal process. Accordingly, such methods and apparatus should reduce the risk of contamination, be easy to use and require little, if any, packaging. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention satisfies the above-stated needs and overcomes the above-stated and other deficiencies of the related art by providing methods, systems and apparatus for safely, efficiently and economically dressing puncture wounds. 
   One aspect of the present invention is directed to a sealed bandage in which a bandage with an absorbent pad affixed to an adhesive strip is packaged by affixation to a complementary carrier with a blister, to accommodate the pad, and with at least one end region of the bandage as defined by a means for separating (for example, a snap-line) portions of the carrier. The carrier is formed of a material that is substantially more rigid than the adhesive strip and is weakened at the snap-line(s) such that a user may break the carrier along the snap line and peel the carrier from the adhesive strip except for the end region(s) thereof. A snap-line may be shaped in one of a number of configurations, but is preferably shaped to facilitate grasp of the carrier upon breakage along the snap-line. 
   In a related form, the invention includes a method of dressing a puncture wound that virtually ensures that sterility of the wound and bandage is preserved while applying the bandage to the wound. The inventive method also achieves this benefit while enabling quick and simple application of the bandage. Thus, the invention is particularly well suited for fast-paced and intensive medical environments such as ambulances and hospital emergency rooms. The invention is also well suited for use on intentional wounds occurring during medical procedures performed during routine medical check-ups, blood-work, etc. at offices and/or blood banks. The inventive methods, however, may also be performed on a wide variety of unintentional wounds. 
   When the invention is applied in a controlled medical environment, methods in accordance with the invention typically commence after insertion of a needle and the withdrawal of blood. In this case, a user, such as a nurse or a phlebotomist, would first grasp the bandage and separate the end(s) of the carrier along the separation lines (for example, by snapping the carrier along pre-weakened stress line(s)) to thereby expose the rigid carrier strip in the vicinity of the separation line(s). The user would then remove the center of the packaging/carrier by grasping and pulling the newly exposed region from the bandage strip. The user may then grasp the remaining end region(s) of the bandage/carrier and apply the bandage to the desired location without touching the sterile pad of the bandage. If desired, the user may optionally peel the remaining carrier ends off of the bandage strip and press the, thus exposed, adhesive ends of the bandage strip onto the patient. If the bandage is expected to be removed in a short period of time, however, it may be more desirable to leave at least one of the remaining carrier ends on the bandage strip so that it may be easily grasped to remove the bandage from the patient. This is likely to be the case when the bandaged wound is a puncture wound from the intentional withdrawal of blood. 
   Other important aspects of the invention include the ability to virtually guarantee sterility of the bandage to be used and the minimal amount of packaging needed to provide this benefit. Other benefits of the invention include the monetary savings resulting from the relative ease with which expensive and scarce nurses and phlebotomists may use the inventive bandage since they avoid the need to fuss with complicated packaging, to fold gauze, to tape gauze to a patient, etc. 
   Naturally, the above-described methods of the invention are particularly well adapted for use with the above-described apparatus of the invention. Similarly, the apparatus of the invention are well suited to perform the inventive methods described above. 
   Numerous other advantages and features of the present invention will. become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, from the claims and from the accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings where like numerals represent like steps and/or structures and wherein: 
       FIG. 1  is a top plan view of a sealed bandage in accordance with one preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 1   a  is a side elevation view of a bandage carrier in accordance with the embodiment of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 1   b  is a side elevation view of a bandage in accordance with the embodiment of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 1   b ′ is a top plan view of the bandage of  FIG. 1   b;    
       FIG. 1   c  is a partial side elevation view of the carrier of  FIG. 1   a  illustrating detail A, 
       FIGS. 2   a  through  2   d  illustrate a method of using the sealed bandage of  FIG. 1  in accordance with one preferred method embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 3   a  is a top plan view of a sealed bandage in accordance with an alternative preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 3   b  is a side elevation view of the sealed bandage of  FIG. 3   a;    
       FIG. 4   a  is a top plan view of a sealed bandage in accordance with yet another alternative preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 4   b  is a partial top plan view of a modified version of the sealed bandage of  FIG. 4   a ; and 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a sealed bandage in accordance with still another alternative preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   A first preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described with joint reference to accompanying  FIGS. 1 ,  1   a ,  1   b ,  1   b ′ and  1   c . As shown therein,  FIG. 1  is a top plan view of a sealed bandage in accordance with one preferred embodiment of the present invention. A side elevation view of the bandage carrier shown in  FIG. 1  is illustrated in  FIG. 1   a .  FIG. 1   b  is a side elevation view of the bandage of  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 1   b ′ is a top plan view of the bandage of  FIG. 1   b  and  FIG. 1   c  is a partial side elevation view of the carrier of  FIG. 1   a  illustrating detail A. 
   As shown in these Figures, a sealed bandage  10  comprises a carrier  12  and a bandage  14  having an adhesive strip  22  with an adhesive surface  26  that defines an outer perimeter  23 . Sealed bandage  10  is preferably about six inches long and between 1 inch and 1¼ inches wide for use as a dressing for a standard needle puncture wound. As discussed herein, the inventive bandage is preferably sized, shaped and constructed so that the bandage may be easily open and applied while wearing rubber gloves of the type normally worn by workers in hospitals and medial offices and clinics. Strip  22  further comprises a pad  24  that is preferable formed of an absorbent gauze or similar material and that is disposed on adhesive surface  26  such that it is disposed inwardly of perimeter  23 . In this way adhesive surface  26  surrounds pad  24  to thereby seal pad  24  between strip  22  and carrier  12  in sealed bandage  10 . While pad  24  may range in thickness from ⅛ inch to ⅜ inch, it is preferably about ¼ inch thick (see  FIG. 1   b ). As shown in  FIG. 1 , an outer perimeter  13  of carrier  12  and an outer perimeter  23  of strip  14  are preferably substantially similar and carrier  12  and strip  14  are substantially aligned such that neither extends beyond the other. However, carrier  12  may, optionally, be larger than strip  14  in at least some respects as long as adhesive surface  26  is substantially entirely in contact with a planar surface  19  of carrier  12 . 
   Carrier  12  is preferably elongated and preferably includes first and second weakened snap-lines  18   a  and  18   b  that define first and second end regions  20   a  and  20   b  between respective ones of snap-lines  18   a  and  18   b  and outer perimeter  13  of carrier  12 . It will be appreciated that snap-lines  18   a  and  18   b  weaken carrier  12  along the path of the snap-lines such that bending sealed bandage  10  will break carrier  12  along the paths of lines  18   a  and  18   b  and at least partially pull strip  22  away from carrier  12  in the vicinity of the snap-lines  18   a  and  18   b . As shown in  FIG. 1 , the snap-lines preferably extend generally transversely to the elongated direction of carrier  12  and preferably follow a path that is at least partially curvilinear. In particular, the path of snap-lines  18   a  and  18   b  are preferably sinusoidal. However, such snap-lines may, optionally, follow any of a wide number of alternative paths such as linear (see weakened snap-lines  18   a  and  18   b  of  FIG. 4   a ), partially linear and partially curvilinear (see weakened snap-lines  18   a ″′ and  18   b ″′ of  FIG. 5 ), etc. As noted above, sealed bandage  10  can be bent such that carrier  12  will break along snap-lines  18   a  and  18   b  and at least partially pull ship  22  away from carrier  12  in the vicinity of the path of the snap-lines. In this way, an intermediate portion  15  of carrier  12  will be exposed to a user&#39;s grasp so that it can be pulled away from strip  22  leaving end regions  20   a  and  20   b  of carrier  12  adhered to strip  22 . 
   With continuing reference to  FIGS. 1 through 1   c , carrier  12  preferably further comprises a blister  16  that is sized, shaped and located to seal pad  24  between carrier  12  and strip  22  and to allow planar surface  19  of carrier  12  to adhere to adhesive surface  26  all the way around blister  16 . In this way pad  24  is sealed between strip  22  and carrier  12  to ensure sterility of bandage  22  and pad  24  before and upon usage. It will also be appreciated that the bandage configurations shown and described herein provide the additional benefit that they are very inexpensive to store and package because the inventive sealed bandages may be shipped and stored loosely in bulk (such as in a bag or a box) and individually removed from bulk storage upon usage. All of these storage and shipping options are available with little or no risk that the sealed bandages will lose sterility, since they remain individually sealed until the moment before application to a patient. While blister  16  is shown as a substantially rectangular form with rounded corners, those of ordinary skill will readily appreciate that that blister  16  may take some other shape so long as sufficient space is provided to accommodate pad  24 . Regardless of the precise shape, carrier  12 , including blister  16 , is preferably a piece of unitary material that is substantially more rigid than strip  14 . In a most preferred embodiment carrier  12  is formed of high density rigid plastic that is approximately 20 mils thick and weakened snap-lines  18   a  and  18   b  are preferably about 2 mils thick. 
   With reference now to  FIG. 1   c , there is shown therein an expanded partial side elevation view of the carrier of  FIG. 1   a . As shown in detail A, a thickness T 1  represents the total thickness of carrier  12  in the vicinity of weakened line  18   a  and that a thickness T 2  represents the thickness of carrier  12  at weakened line  18   a . In a preferred embodiment in which carrier  12  is formed of injection molded plastic, T 1  is preferably about 20 mils and T 2  is preferably about 2 mils. 
   A preferred method of using the sealed bandage of  FIGS. 1 through 1   c , will now be described with joint reference to  FIGS. 2   a  through  2   d . As shown therein, when a user wishes to treat a wound on a patient, the user selects a sealed bandage  10  and bends it to thereby snap carrier  12  along first and second snap-lines  18   a  and  18   b  while not damaging flexible strip  22 . This bending action causes strip  22  to at least partially pull away from carrier  12  in the vicinity of snap-lines. A user then grasps one of end regions  20   a  and  20   b  and intermediate region  15  of carrier  12  in the vicinity of the grasped end region and peels intermediate region  15  of carrier  12  off of strip  22  to thereby expose a portion of adhesive surface  26  and pad  24 . Finally, a user places bandage  14  on the patient such that pad  24  is applied to the wound and such that the, now exposed, portion of adhesive surface  26  adheres to the patient. After peeling carrier  12  and just prior to placing the bandage on a patient, a user may choose to grasp both end regions of the bandage and pull it taught to help ensure precise application of the bandage onto the wound. Naturally, if reservoir  17  contains any substance (see  FIGS. 3   a  and  3   b ), that substance will be applied to the wound as pad  24  is applied to the wound. Optionally, reservoir  17  may be sealed to thereby isolate a substance therein. When this is the case, a user may break the seal to thereby force the sealed substance into or onto the adjacent pad. It will be noted that the above-noted method envisions application of bandage  14  to a patient while opposing end portions  20   a  and  20   b  of carrier  12  remain adhered to respective end portions of strip  22 . This enables the patient to conveniently remove bandage  14  at a later time since the patient may easily grasp the end portions  20   a  and  20   b . This is particularly convenient when the sealed bandage is used to treat a wound caused during a common blood work procedure since the bandage for such a wound is often removed within an hour of completion of the blood work. 
   Turning now to  FIG. 3   a , there is shown therein a top plan view of a sealed bandage  10 ′ in accordance with an alternative preferred embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 3   b  is a side elevation view of the sealed bandage of  FIG. 3   a . As shown therein a sealed bandage  10 ′ primarily differs from sealed bandage  10  of  FIGS. 1 through 1   c  in the use of a modified carrier  12 ′ having a blister  16 ′ with a reservoir  17  thereon. As shown, reservoir  17  may accommodate a substance adjacent to pad  24  and is preferably shaped as a portion of a sphere. Such substances may be a solid, a gel, a paste or a fluid and may include an ointment, alcohol, an antibiotic or other medication that is desirous to apply to a patient&#39;s wound. The reservoir may be sealed such that the substance will remain in the reservoir until the seal is broken and the substance is disbursed onto or into the pad. Those of ordinary skill will readily appreciate that that reservoir  17  may take some other shape so long as sufficient space is prodded to accommodate the substance to be stored therein. Regardless of the precise shape, carrier  12 ′, including blister  16 ′, reservoir  17 , is preferably a piece of unitary material that is substantially more rigid than strip  14 . 
   A sealed bandage in accordance with still other alternative preferred embodiments of the present invention is shown in  FIGS. 4   a  and  4   b . As shown in  FIG. 4   a , a sealed bandage  10 ″ primarily differs from sealed bandage  10  of  FIGS. 1 through 1   c  in the shape of weakened lines  18   a ′ and  18   b ′ and in the use of a composite carrier in which intermediate portion  15 ′ of carrier  12 ″ is formed of a different material than end portions  20   a ′ and  20   b ′. For example, intermediate portion  15 ′ may be formed of plastic while end portions  20   a ′ and  20   b ′ may be formed of paper. Further,  FIG. 4   b  primarily differs from the embodiment of  FIG. 4   a  in the shape of sinusoidal weakened line  18   a ″ and the shape of end region  20   a″.    
     FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a sealed bandage in accordance with still another alternative preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown therein, a sealed bandage  10 ″″ has previously been bent at end regions  20   a ″′ and  20   b ″′ and primarily differs from sealed bandage  10  of  FIGS. 1 through 1   c  in the use of a carrier  12 ″″ with both linear and curvilinear weakened paths  18   a ″′ and  18   b ″′. This arrangement results in differently shaped end regions  20   a ″ and  20   b ″′ and in substantially semicircular grasping tabs on intermediate portion  15 ″ of carrier  12 ″″. 
   While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but is intended to encompass the various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. With respect to the above description, for example, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, including variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the appended claims. Therefore, the foregoing is considered to be an illustrative, not exhaustive, description of the principles of the present invention.