GB2092005A

GB2092005A - Medical or surgical supports

Info

Publication number: GB2092005A
Application number: GB8103397A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: SPENCER BANBURY Ltd
Current assignee: SPENCER BANBURY Ltd
Priority date: 1981-02-04
Filing date: 1981-02-04
Publication date: 1982-08-11

Abstract

A medical or surgical support includes a flexible cover which is shaped to cover a body area and a rigid layer, 11, secured to the cover, the rigid layer being formed in discrete areas to define, between adjacent areas, hinge lines, 12, about which the cover may be hinged. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Medical or surgical supports The present invention relates to medical or surgical supports.

Conventional medical or surgical supports can be made from rigid mouldable materials such as plaster of paris which are moulded in situ onto the part of the patients body to be suported. Such a support provides a good fit but is necessarily time consuming in its application onto the patient. Other known supports are made from rigid plastics material which are pre-moulded prior to application onto the patient. Although this type of support is easy and quick to apply it is usually not a good fit, and therefore uncomfortable, since it is premoulded to a standard shape rather than the shape of the individual. Another type of known support is constructed from a flexible plastics material which enables it to be easily applied to the patient but due to its lack of rigidity does not provide much support.

It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide a medical or surgical support which is easy and quick to apply to a patient without the necessity of heating or pre-moulding and which during its application conforms to the contours of the patient whilst retaining sufficient rigidity to provide sufficient support.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a medical or surgical support including a flexible cover which is shpaed to cover a desired body area of a patient and a rigid layer secured to the cover, the rigid layer being formed in descrete areas to define in between adjacent areas hinge lines about which the cover may be hinged.

Accordingly, by a suitable choice of discrete areas in the rigid layer the hinge lines defined by the rigid layer enable the support to be wrapped about the body area and thus enable the support to conform to the individuals shape. The shape of the discrete areas also being chosen to restrain flexure of the cover in desired directions thus enabling the support to provide sufficient support to the body area covered in said desired directions.

Advantageously, the support includes a first layer of foamed plastics material which is of a flexible nature so as to define said cover and a second layer formed of a rigid plastics material secured to said first layer. Conveniently the second layer may be formed from a suitable foamed plastics material.

Reference is now made to the accompanying drawings in which:~ Figure 1 is a schematic plan view of a support for the neck region of a human body; Figure 2 is a schematic plan view of a support for a limb of a human body; Figure 3 is a schematic representation of a support and illustrated in Fig. 2 shown in situ; Figure 4 is a schematic plan view of a support for the spinal region of a human body; and Figure 5 is a schematic representation of the support illustrated in Fig. 4 shown in situ.

Referring initially to Fig. 1 there is shown a neck support 10 which comprises a rigid layer 11 of foamed plastics material which is secured to and superimposed on a flexible layer of foamed plastics material (not shown). The rigid layer 11 is provided with cuts 12 which extends partially through the layer 11 so as not to extend into the flexible layer of foamed plastics material. The cuts 12 divide the rigid layer 11 into discrete areas 1 1 a and provide hinge lines co-extensive with cuts 12 about which the rigid and flexible layer are permitted to flex by the rigid layer 11. The depth of the cuts determine the degree of resistance to hinging by the rigid layer. In certain applications the cuts may extend up to the interface between the rigid and flexible layers.The neck support 10 includes a central portion 13 in which the cuts 12 are arranged to define discrete areas in the shape of strips 11 b.

Accordingly the central portion 13 may be wrapped about the rear portion of the neck region of a patient with the strips 11 b running substantially parallel to the patients spine.

Extending from either side of the central portion 13 are tab portions 14, 15 in which the cuts 12 define discrete areas which are substantially square in shape. Accordingly the tab portions may be flexed about two directions. In use the tab portions 14, 15 are overlapped when the support 10 is wrapped about the patients neck. The support 10 may be held in position by a bangage or straps or an elasticated tubular support.

The supports 20, 30 respectively shown in Figs. 2 and 4 are of similar construction to support 10 apart from their peripheral shape and arrangement of cuts 12.

Accordingly the support 20 includes discrete areas 11 b which are in the form of strips which in use as shown in Fig. 3 extend along the length of the limb to be supported, which in Fig. 3 is a leg. Fig. 3 in fact illustrates two alternatives in construction for a leg support in that support 20a is of a width which only partically envelopes the leg whereas support 20b is of a width which totally envelopes the leg. In both cases, the support is held in position by bandages or straps.

Support 30 as shown in Fig. 4 is intended to provide spinal support. As shown in Fig. 5 support 30 may be incorporated within a body belt 31 which is wrapped about the torso of the patient. The support 30 is therefore easy to fit and remove. Alternatively the support 30 may be held in position by bandages. If desired an anterior support 32 similar in construction to support 30 but of a different suitable peripheral shape may be provided.

In the above described supports the flexible foamed plastics material and rigid layer are preferably formed from different densities of foamed cross-linked polyethylene, for instance of the type sold under the trade name "Plastozote" manufactured by Bakelite Xylonite Limited. The density of the rigid layer is preferably in the range 65-110 kg/m3. The flexible layer preferably has a density in the range 40-50 kg/m3.

The thickness of each layer is chosen as desired for instance the thickness of the rigid layer is preferably about 6 mm.

Claims

1. A medical or surgical support including a flexible cover which is shaped to cover a desired body area of a patient and a rigid layer secured to the cover, the rigid layer being formed in descrete areas to define in between adjacent areas hinge lines about which the cover may be hinged.

2. A support according to Claims 1 including a first layer of foamed plastics material which is of a flexible nature so as to define said cover and a second layer formed of a rigid plastics material secured to said first layer.

3. A support according to Claim 2 wherein the second layer is formed from a foamed plastics material.

4. A support according to Claim 2 or 3 wherein said hinge lines are defined by grooves formed in the second layer only, the depth of said grooves determining the degree of flexure of the support about said hinge lines.

5. A support according to any preceding claims wherein the support includes a series of hinge lines arranged to permit flexure of the support about a given direction and so discourage flexure in directions substantially perpendicular to said given direction.

6. A support according to Claim 5 wherein the support includes hinge lines extending substantially perpendicular to said series of hinge lines to permit flexure of the support in a direction substantially perpendicular to said given direction.

7. A medical or surgical support substantially as described with reference to and as illustrated in any of the accompanying drawings.