GB2389794A

GB2389794A - Wound dressing with variable shape

Info

Publication number: GB2389794A
Application number: GB0214134A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Paul William Watt
Original assignee: Johnson and Johnson Medical Ltd
Current assignee: Johnson and Johnson Medical Ltd
Priority date: 2002-06-19
Filing date: 2002-06-19
Publication date: 2003-12-24
Also published as: GB0214134D0

Abstract

A wound dressing (1) comprising: a backing sheet; a water-permeable wound facing sheet (2) bonded to the backing sheet by edge seals (4) around the edges thereof and also along a plurality of intersecting bonding strips (5), said bonding strips (5) and edge seals (4) defining a plurality of compartments (8) between the backing sheet and the wound facing sheet; and an absorbent material inside said compartments (8); wherein the bonding strips (5) comprise two seals about a median line (7), whereby separating the dressing along said median line (7) enables the shape of the dressing to be modified substantially without loss of edge sealing strength.

Description

(, WOUND DRESSIIIG WITH VARIABLE SHAPE

The present invention relates to an absorbent wound dressing whose size and shape can be adapted to different patients and different wounds.

It is known to provide odour absorbent dressings comprising an activated charcoal cloth inside a spunbonded nylon envelope. The activated charcoal cloth absorbs unpleasant odours from certain wounds, and the nylon envelope prevents the escape of carbon particles into the wound The dressings are currently available 10 under the Registered Trade Mark ACTISORB from Johnson Johnson Medical Limited. However, it has not hitherto been suggested to provide such dressings in a format that can be adapted to a wide variety of differently sized and shaped wounds. 15 The present invention provides a wound dressing comprising: a backing sheet; a water-permeable wound facing sheet bonded to the backing sheet by an edge seal around the edges thereof, and also by a plurality of intersecting bonding strips, such that the bonding strips define a plurality of compartments between the backing sheet and the wound facing sheet; and an absorbent material inside the 20 compartments, wherein the bonding strips comprise two edge seals about a median line, whereby separating the dressing along said median line enables the shape of the dressing to be modified, substantially without loss of edge sealing strength. 25 In other words, the sealing strips are formed by bonding the backing and facing sheets together by bonds that are wider and/or stronger than the edge seals, whereby separating the dressing along the median line results in a shaped dressing having an edge seal (one half of the previous sealing strip) that is substantially as reliable as the edge seal of the original dressing. In this way, the 30 dressing can be reshaped simply by cutting or tearing along the median lines without loss of effectiveness or increased risk of contamination of the wound.

In certain embodiments the backing sheet is also water-permeable. The backing sheet may be made of the same material as the wound facing sheet, thereby providing a symmetrical dressing that can be applied to a wound with either side facing the wound. Typically, one or both of the backing sheet and the wound 5 facing sheet comprises a nonwoven fabric, for example a spunbonded nylon fabric of the kind currently used to make ACTISORB. Preferably, the material of the wound facing sheet and/or the backing sheet includes a fusible component so that the bonding edges and bonding strips can be provided by the application of heat and pressure. For example, the fabric may be a nonwoven fabric containing both 10 fusible (such as polypropylene) and non-fusible (such as cellulose) fibers. In other embodiments, the bonding may be achieved by the use of adhesives, stitching, or any other method known in the art.

In certain embodiments, the edge seals comprise a band or margin of bonded 15 material having a substantially constant width W extending around the edges of the dressing. The sealing strips may then comprise a single band of material bonded in the same way as the edge seals, but having a greater width, for example at least 1.5W, preferably about 2W whereby separation of the dressing along the median line of the wide sealing band results in a modified dressing 20 having edge seals of width close to or equal to W. In other embodiments, the sealing strips may comprise two spaced apart sealing bands, each having a sealing efficacy comparable to that of the edge seal, whereby separating the dressing along a line between the two sealing bands 25 results in a dressing having edge seals of substantially uniform strength.

In any case, the dressings preferably comprise a line of weakness proximate to the median line of the sealing strips, whereby the dressing can be separated by tearing. The line of weakness may, for example, be a line of perforations or 30 scoring, such as laser scoring. In other embodiments, there is no line of weakness and the care giver simply cuts along the median lines of the dressing. It will be appreciated that the dressing may comprise visible markings, such as a line, showing where to cut the dressing.

Preferably, the plurality of compartments are provided in a regular array, for example a triangular, rectangular or hexagonal tesselation. Preferably, the area of the compartments (as defined between the median lines of the sealing bands) is in 5 the range of from 1cm2 to 25cm2, preferably from 2cm2 to 16cm2. Preferably, the dressing according to the present invention comprises at least four such compartments, preferably at least six such compartments, more preferably at least eight such compartments so as to provide increased flexibility as to size and shape of the final dressing. It will also be appreciated that the dressings according 10 to the present invention can also be manufactured in lengths or rolls, for example lengths of 1 m or more.

The absorbent material in the compartments is preferably in sheet form, and is preferably liquid-absorbent so as to take up wound fluid in situ. Suitable absorbent 15 materials include alginate pads, such as those supplied under the Registered Trade Mark NU-DERM. Alginate Wound Dressing by Johnson & Johnson Wound Management, Worldwide, and hydrophilic polyurethane foams such as those described in EP-A-0541391. Preferably, the absorbent material comprises an odour absorbent material. Such materials include certain zeolites and certain 20 polymeric molecular sieve materials, for example as described in EP-A-0888785 or EP-A-0509409. Preferably, however, the odour-absorbent material comprises an activated charcoal, for example a charcoal cloth as described in GB-A 1301101. The charcoal cloth may be impregnated with an anti-microbial agent, such as iodine, for example as described in EP-A-0053936, or it may be 25 impregnated with an active metal such as silver, as described in GB-A2127389.

All of these references are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.

Preferably, the absorbent wound dressing according to the present invention is sterile. Preferably, it is packaged in a microorganismimpermeable container.

Specific embodiments of the present invention will now be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

( 4 Figure 1 shows a schematic plan view of a first wound dressing according to the invention; and Figure 2 shows a schematic plan view of a second wound dressing according to 5 the present invention.

Referring to Figure 1, the dressing 1 comprises a top layer 2 and bottom layer (not shown) of spun bonded nylon web supplied by Asahi Chemical Industry Co. Ltd., the upper and lower webs are bonded together around their edges by an edge 10 seal 4 formed by applying heat and pressure. The webs 2 are also bonded together by a rectangular grid of sealing strips 5, each having a width approximately twice that of the edge strip 4. Lines of perforations 7 extend along the median lines of the sealing strips to provide for easy separation of the dressing along the median lines.

15! The sealing strips divide the dressing into an array of compartments 8, each containing a square piece of charcoal cloth (shown in dotted line) containing dispersed bactericidal silver prepared as described in GB-A2127389.

20 Referring to Figure 2, the alternative embodiment has a similar structure, but the sealing strips 10 each comprise two substantially parallel seals 12, 13 spaced on either side of the median line of the sealing strips. The spaced-apart seals provide an eye guide for a user to cut between the seals to shape the dressing, and therefore this particular embodiment does not include a line of perforations.

The above embodiments have been described by way of example only. Many other embodiments falling within the scope of the accompanying claims will be apparent to the skilled reader.

Claims

( 5 CLAIMS

1. A wound dressing comprising: a backing sheet; 5 a water-permeable wound facing sheet bonded to the backing sheet by edge seals around the edges thereof and also along a plurality of intersecting bonding strips, said bonding strips and edge seals defining a plurality of compartments between the backing sheet and the wound facing sheet; and an absorbent material inside said compartments; 10 wherein the bonding strips comprise two seals about a median line, whereby separating the dressing along said median line enables the shape of the dressing to be modified substantially without loss of edge sealing strength.

2. A wound dressing according to claim 1, wherein the backing sheet is water permeable.!

3. A wound dressing according to claim 1 or 2, wherein one or both of the backing sheet and the wound facing sheet comprises a nonwoven fabric.

20

4. A wound dressing according to any preceding claim, wherein the backing sheet and the wound facing sheet are bonded together by the application of heat and pressure.

5. A wound dressing according to any preceding claim, wherein said sealing 25 strips comprise a sealing band having a width at least about 150% of the width of the edge seal, wherein said median line extends substantially along the middle of said sealing band.

6. A wound dressing according to any preceding claim, wherein said sealing 30 strips comprise two sealing bands spaced apart from said median line.

7. A wound dressing according to any preceding claim, further comprising a line of weakness in the vicinity of said median line.

8. A wound dressing according to any preceding claim, wherein said plurality of compartments are provided in a regular array.

5

9. A wound dressing according to any preceding claim, comprising at least four of said compartments.

10. A wound dressing according to any preceding claim, wherein the absorbent material comprises an odour-absorbent material, an antimicrobial material, or a 10 mixture thereof.

11. A wound dressing according to claim 10, wherein the odour-absorbent material comprises a charcoal cloth.