AU736795B3

AU736795B3 - Blood pressure cuff protection sleeve

Info

Publication number: AU736795B3
Application number: AU71441/00A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Franjo Najdek; Johan Najdek
Original assignee: PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS Pty Ltd
Current assignee: PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2000-11-06
Filing date: 2000-11-06
Publication date: 2001-08-02
Anticipated expiration: 2002-08-02

Description

P00011 Regulation 3.2 Revised 2/98

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act, 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT TO BE COMPLETED BY THE APPLICANT NAME OF APPLICANT: Process Improvements (ACN 002 059 270) Pty Limited ACTUAL INVENTOR: ADDRESS FOR SERVICE: INVENTION TITLE: DETAILS OF ASSOCIATED PROVISIONAL APPLICATION NO(S): Johan Najdek and Franjo Najdek Peter Maxwell Associates Level 6 Pitt Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 BLOOD PRESSURE CUFF PROTECTION SLEEVE

NIL

The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to me:- The present invention relates to a protective sleeve for a blood pressure cuff.

Blood pressure cuffs or sphygmomanometers are one of the most commonly used medical devices. Blood pressure measurements may be taken of a range of patient types, from those undergoing routine blood pressure tests to those in emergency situations, among which the taking of blood pressure measurements may be in circumstances where the patient is undergoing the loss of blood or other body fluids.

Contamination of blood pressure cuffs in the course of their use is not uncommon. As well as the likelihood of contamination by blood, mucus or vomit in emergency situations, blood pressure cuffs may absorb other body fluids, such as sweat, as well as grime that can act as carriers of disease causing agents and which present a generally unhygienic environment to which a patient may be exposed. Even where blood pressure cuffs have only ever been used on patients undergoing routine blood pressure tests, such as in community health clinics or in the surgeries of general practitioners, the gradual accumulation of sweat and grime on the cuff may, over time, pose a threat to the health of patients.

In circumstances where the level of contamination of the cuff has been severe, there may be no alternative but to safely dispose of the cuff, a somewhat expensive measure and a problematic solution in itself.

Where a cuff has been contaminated to a lesser extent, decontamination of the cuff may be effected by routine methods commonly used in hospitals and the like, although these methods must ensure that they do not destroy or compromise the structure and function of the cuff. Many blood pressure cuffs are not designed to withstand the high sterilizing temperatures required to thoroughly decontaminate them. Furthermore, decontamination methods are time consuming and the use of autoclaves and sterilizers to decontaminate blood pressure cuffs will place an added burden on the use of the resources of the hospital or the like.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate the disadvantages and shortcomings of the prior art.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a means for effectively isolating the blood pressure cuff, when in use, from the body fluids of the patient whose blood pressure is being measured.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a protective sleeve that can effectively surround the blood pressure cuff, when in use, and can easily be fitted over the arm of the patent.

According to the present invention, there is provided a protective sleeve for a blood pressure cuff comprising a flexible sheet of fluid impermeable material defining a passageway through which is adapted to fit at least that part of a limb of a patient from where a blood pressure measurement is to be taken, the sheet comprising at least one foldable portion and a cuff receiving portion, the arrangement being such that, in use, the blood pressure cuff is received around the cuff receiving portion and the at least one foldable portion is folded over the blood pressure cuff to protect the cuff from fluid, wherein the sheet comprises a first foldable portion adjacent an end of the flexible sheet adapted to fit around a lower part of the limb, a second foldable portion adjacent an end of the flexible sheet adapted to fit around an upper part of the limb, and the cuff receiving portion is intermediate the first and second foldable portions, wherein the first foldable portion is folded over the blood pressure cuff before the second foldable portion is folded thereover.

Preferably, the protective sleeve further includes means for protecting air supply tubing connected to the blood pressure cuff.

It is preferred that the limb is an arm of the patient, and the protective sleeve further includes an arterial indicator symbol represented on the flexible sheet in such a position as to enable correct positioning of the sleeve around the arm by aligning the symbol with the patient's brachial artery puncture point opposite the patient's elbow.

2/04/01 In order that the present invention may be readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will be made to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig 1 is a perspective view of a protective sleeve according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, Fig 2 is a sectional side view through I-I of the protective sleeve of Fig 1 Fig 3 is an isometric view of the protective sleeve of Fig 1 shown fitted, in a first step, around an arm of a patient, Fig 4 is an isometric view showing a blood pressure cuff received, in a second step, around the cuff receiving portion of the protective sleeve, Fig 5 is an isometric view showing the first foldable portion of the protective sleeve folded, in a third step, over the blood pressure cuff, and Fig 6 is an isometric view showing the second foldable portion of the protective sleeve folded, in a fourth step, over the first foldable portion.

The protective sleeve 10 shown in Figs 1 to 6 comprises a flexible sheet or tube fabricated of a transparent plastic material, such as polyvinylchloride, that is impermeable to fluid, especially body fluids such as blood and mucus.

The sheet, which has a substantially rectangular main body 11, is formed by pressure melting or sealing together two separate, but superimposed, strips or sleeve portions 12, 14 of the sheet, only along the opposed longer edges 13, of the sleeve portions 12, 14 but leaving the opposed shorter edges unsealed, thereby providing a sleeve that, by virtue of defining a passageway 16 between the flexible sleeve portions 12, 14, can fit around an arm or other limb of a patient, by opening the sleeve and passing the limb through the passageway 16. There are openings 18, 20 for the passageway 16 at both of the shorter edges of the sleeve.

There is a slot or aperture 22 formed through the upper sleeve strip portion 12 and there are a pair of flexible flaps 24, 26, also fabricated of a fluid impermeable plastic material, that are located overlappingly in the passageway 16 and are heat sealed along their edge portions at either side of the aperture 22 to the underside of the upper sleeve portion 12.

An edge portion of the upper flap 24 is heat sealed to the upper sleeve portion 12 adjacent a first long side of the aperture 22 to form a weld seam 28, and an edge portion of the lower flap 26 is heat sealed to the upper sleeve portion 12 adjacent a second long side (opposite to the first long side) of the aperture 22 to form a weld seam 30, so that the aperture 22 may provide access into a protected space definable between the flaps 24, 26.

In order to facilitate the steps of folding over, to be discussed later, a leading portion of each of the edges 13, 15 adjacent both the openings 18 and may not be sealed together.

Printed or otherwise indicated on the upper sleeve portion 12 is an arterial indicator symbol 31 for correctly positioning the sleeve around the arm by aligning the symbol 31 with the patient's brachial artery puncture point opposite the elbow.

In use, the protective sleeve 10 is opened initially at opening 18 to reveal the passageway 16 and is then slid over the patient's arm 32 so that the arm 32 passes through the passageway 16 and the lower part of the arm exits through opening 20, until the symbol 31 is aligned with the artery, as shown in Fig 3.

The blood pressure cuff 34 is then applied to the arm in the normal manner, as shown in Fig 4, so that it is received around a cuff receiving portion of the sleeve 10. The cuff receiving portion 35, obscured by the cuff 34 in Fig 4, is intermediate a first foldable portion 36 of the sleeve 10 which fits around the lower part of the arm, and a second foldable portion 38 of the sleeve 10 which fits around the upper part of the arm. The air supply tubing connected to the cuff 34 (including the squeeze bulb for hand pumping and releasing air to and from the cuff 34) is passed into the aperture 22 and through the space created between the flaps 24, 26 until it exits the sleeve through opening The first foldable portion 36 of the sleeve 10 is then folded over the cuff 34 by inverting or turning the foldable portion 36 inside-out as shown in Fig The folding stops at the seam 28 where the upper flap 24 is heat sealed to the upper sleeve portion 12, thereby leaving the flaps 24, 26 unfolded so that they protect the part of the tubing 40 adjacent to the cuff 34.

The second foldable portion 38 of the sleeve 10 is then folded over the inverted first foldable portion 36 by similarly inverting or turning the foldable portion 38 inside-out, as shown in Fig 6, until the position of the cuff 34 prevents any further folding over of the foldable portion 38.

The first and second foldable portions 36, 38 should, when folded properly, completely cover the blood pressure cuff 34 so as to protect the cuff from contamination by body fluids and other disease carrying agents, or simply to prevent direct skin contact of the cuff with the patient. As mentioned earlier, the steps of folding over may be facilitated by having a leading portion of each of the edges 13, 15 adjacent the openings 18, 20 unsealed. For instance, the unsealed leading portions may be up to about half the length of the edges along each of the first and second foldable portions 36, 38.

A blood pressure measurement can be taken in the normal manner with the sleeve 10 protecting the arm fitted cuff 34 as described above.

Various modifications may be made in details of design and construction without departing from the scope and ambit of the invention.

The sleeve 10 may be manufactured as a single use, disposable item or as a multi-use item that can be sterilized or decontaminated after each use.

In an alternative form of the invention, the flexible sheet may comprise a single strip of a transparent, plastic material that forms the sleeve when fitted around the arm and opposed edges of the strip are connected together, say, by a VELCRO attachment. The sleeve so formed will, of course, have at least one foldable portion and a cuff receiving portion in accordance with the present invention.

Claims

1. A protective sleeve for a blood pressure cuff comprising a flexible sheet of fluid impermeable material defining a passageway through which is adapted to fit at least that part of a limb of a patient from where a blood pressure measurement is to be taken, the sheet comprising at least one foldable portion and a cuff receiving portion, the arrangement being such that, in use, the blood pressure cuff is received around the cuff receiving portion and the at least one foldable portion is folded over the blood pressure cuff to protect the cuff from fluid, wherein the sheet comprises a first foldable portion adjacent an end of the flexible sheet adapted to fit around a lower part of the limb, a second foldable portion adjacent an end of the flexible sheet adapted to fit around an upper part of the limb, and the cuff receiving portion is intermediate the first and second foldable portions, wherein the first foldable portion is folded over the blood pressure cuff before the second foldable portion is folded thereover.

2. The protective sleeve of claim 1 further including means for protecting air supply tubing connected to the blood pressure cuff.

3. The protective sleeve of claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the limb is an arm of the patient, and further including an arterial indicator symbol represented on the flexible sheet in such a position as to enable correct positioning of the sleeve around the arm by aligning the symbol with the patient's brachial artery puncture point opposite the patient's elbow. Dated this 2nd day of April, 2001 Process Improvements Pty Limited Patent Attorneys for the Applicant PETER MAXWELL ASSOCIATES