Abstract:
An improved hospital isolation gown comprises a stethoscope cover portion having tubular legs covering the ear pieces and a tubular main body receiving the chestpiece and tubing. In embodiments, the stethoscope cover may be provided separately, individually dispensed from a stack of identical covers, shipped and dispensed from the same box.

Description:
FIELD OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
       [0001]    The invention is directed to a medical isolation gown worn by a medical professional to prevent contamination at a medical facility, and separately, to an isolation cover for a stethoscope which may be individually dispensed to prevent transmission of disease caused by contact with a stethoscope. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Prevention of contamination at medical facilities has become an emergent issue. The advent of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and viruses, such as methicillin-resistant  Staphylococcus aureus  (MRSA), and others, and the speed at with these pathogens can propagate about the world with their word-travelling hosts, has caused an explosion in the use of isolation rooms and isolation wards. The problem has reached epidemic proportions. 
         [0003]    Medical professionals frequently wear a disposable medical isolation gown when treating patients at a hospital or clinic where there is a risk of contamination. If a first patient potentially has an infectious disease, the doctor exposed to the patient may wear a gown during an examination of the patient, and remove and dispose of the entire gown before examining the next patient. 
         [0004]    The stethoscope has been identified by some as a chief culprit in the spread of disease in the clinical setting. The stethoscope is, in some sense, an extension of the physician&#39;s hand, and yet no convenient and secure garments for the purpose of preventing the spread of disease by this instrument has been developed or been made commercially available. 
         [0005]    U.S. Pat. No. 7,647,648 discloses an isolation gown with a pouch for a stethoscope. The pouch is ineffective to prevent contamination from the uncovered part of the stethoscope, which includes the ear-pieces. Thus, the patent discloses a secondary isolation bather which is relied on to prevent contamination that would otherwise arise from contact with this portion of the instrument. 
         [0006]    U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0074929 discloses a stethoscope cover with attention to the ear pieces, but it is not convenient or practical as a means for isolating the entire stethoscope. 
         [0007]    Thus, one object of the invention is to improve upon the known isolation gowns and stethoscope covers to provide an isolation gown that covers the stethoscope and allows for easy manipulation of the instrument by the physician or other health care practitioner. 
         [0008]    Another object of the invention is to provide a separately dispensible stethoscope cover which can be used independently of a standard isolation gown. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    These and other objects of the invention are achieved in one aspect with an isolation gown comprising a body cover having a body portion with a front surface, a neck hole, armholes and sleeves; and a stethoscope cover attached to the front surface of the body cover. The stethoscope cover has a tubular main body extending along the front surface of the body portion of the body cover and two tubular legs attached to the body portion, each tubular leg forming a common tube with the tubular main body and having an opening at a proximal end thereof opposite the main body to receive an ear piece of a stethoscope; an opening formed by a horizontal slit in main body of the stethoscope cover where the tubular legs meet the tubular main body. 
         [0010]    In another aspect, the invention is a package of individually dispensed stethoscope isolation covers, comprising: a stack of substantially identical stethoscope isolation covers folding flat and having a rectangular plan profile, each stethoscope isolation cover comprising, in an unfolded state, a tubular main body having a front surface and a rear surface; two tubular legs attached to the body portion, each tubular leg forming a common tube with the tubular main body, and each tubular leg having an opening at one end thereof opposite the main body to receive an ear piece of a stethoscope; and an opening formed by a horizontal slit in the tubular main body where the tubular legs meet the main body. A rectangular dispenser is provided for receiving the stack of stethoscope isolation covers, having an opening through which a single isolation cover may be withdrawn from the dispenser. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is an isolation gown with a stethoscope cover as would be worn by a medical professional 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is a stethoscope isolation cover with a stethoscope inside. 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is a stethoscope isolation cover folded for dispensing. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0014]    An isolation gown  10  according to the invention is depicted in  FIG. 1  and, but for the stethoscope cover, resembles a conventional isolation gown, comprising a body cover  12  with a front surface, a neck hole, armholes and sleeves. As used herein, referring to the gown, “front,” “rear,” “side,” “top” and “bottom” refer to the orientation of a person wearing the gown, so that the front of the gown faces the direction a person wearing the gown faces, and the sides refer to the lateral left and right sides. The gown  10 , including the stethoscope cover portion  20 , may be made of any material conventionally used for isolation gown manufacture, including woven or nonwoven natural or man-made fibers, or a blend of such fibers. A presently preferred material of construction is spun bond polymeric fiber, which is typically melt blown polyethylene or polypropylene. Preferably, the stethoscope cover is attached to the front of the gown body cover by stitching, although any means of attaching the stethoscope cover  20  to the gown  10  may be used, such as adhesive, or a hook-and-loop type fastener. 
         [0015]    Because the preferred isolation gown materials are all permeable to some degree, a distal portion  26  of the stethoscope cover is preferably provided with a waterproof plastic outer sleeve. The chestpiece of the stethoscope is manipulated by the health care practitioner and comes into the closest contact with the patient (through the isolation cover). Therefore, to prevent permeation of pathogens through the cover by way of perspiration, or other fluids, six to eight inches of plastic liner at the distal end of the cover are provided. Preferably, the plastic sleeve is laminated with the material of the isolation gown, but the plastic sleeve may be added at any point during manufacture of a gown according to the invention. 
         [0016]    The stethoscope cover  20  is provided on the front surface of the body cover, having a tubular main portion  25  extending along the front surface of the body portion of the isolation gown and two tubular legs  22  attached to the main portion, such that each tubular leg  22  forms a common tube with the tubular main portion  25 . The size of the stethoscope cover ranges from about 20 inches to about 36 inches to accommodate standard stethoscope sizes with headset, although the exact dimensions of the cover  20  are not critical. Likewise, the stethoscope cover may have a width of 1½ to 4 inches, but this dimension is not critical, except that it must be large enough to receive a stethoscope. Tubular leg  22  each receive an ear piece of a stethoscope. The openings  28  at the proximal end of the tubular legs are in the form of slits just large enough to accommodate the eartips of the stethoscope. 
         [0017]    To insert the stethoscope into the cover, an opening, preferably in the form of a horizontal slit  24  is provided on the back of the cover  20 , i.e, on the side facing the wearer&#39;s body, preferably where the tubular main portion  25  connects with the legs  22 . The user feeds the chestpiece of the stethoscope into the tubular main portion of the stethoscope cover  20 , while the earpieces of the stethoscope are each fed through the tubular legs until the eartips find slits at the respective ends of the respective tubular legs. 
         [0018]      FIG. 3  depicts a stethoscope isolation cover folded for dispensing. A novel aspect of this embodiment of the invention resides in providing a conveniently dispensible stack of isolation covers in a dispenser box. The box may be positioned outside an examination room so that a health care provider may choose to put a cover on only the stethoscope, for example if using the cover in combination with a conventional gown without a stethoscope cover. The precise dimensions of the box to accommodate a folded stethoscope cover of the invention are not critical and may be adapted according to the skill in the art, but a rectangular base having a length of 10 to 15 cm on a first side and a length of 15 to 20 cm on a second side and a height sufficient to accommodate a stack of 10 to 100 identical isolation covers is operable. 
         [0019]    Creases may be formed on the lateral sides of the tubular main body  22 , and on the lateral sides of the tubular legs  22 , and the tubular legs  22  may be folded down so that individually dispensed stethoscope covers  20  can be provided in a box for convenient dispensing. The covers may be shipped and dispensed in the same cardboard box, provided with a perforated section to form a dispenser opening. 
         [0020]    The above description of the preferred embodiments is not to be deemed limiting of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims. With the guidance provided by the foregoing specification, the person of ordinary skill in the art may practice variants of the embodiments described without departing from the scope of the invention. Features disclosed in connection with one embodiment may be combined in another embodiment without departing from the scope of the invention.