GB2247172A - Ileostomy bag filter protection arrangement - Google Patents

Abstract

An ileostomy bag has a pair of walls 10, 12 joined 20 around their edges. One of the walls has a gas vent and filter arrangement 16 in an upper region thereof. There is a gas-permeable liquid-impermeable membrane 18 located to prevent faecal material coming into direct contact with the inner surface of the filter. The membrane is mounted within and supported by a frame 20 of plastics material. The frame 20 is heat sealed to the bag wall that carries the gas vent and filter arrangement. <IMAGE>

Description

ILEOSTOMY BAG This invention relates to an ileostomy bag.

There have been attempts in the past to design a bag suitable for wear by ileostomates. One approach is shown in U.K. Patent No. 2139 501. The faecal material which is emitted by a person who has been unfortunate enough to suffer an ileostomy surgical intervention procedure gives rise to a number of problems to a bag manufacturer. It is of a slimy, slurry-like nature and contains acidic components including cholic acid. It is a strong surfactant and is agressive to human skin. Hence it is important that an ileostomy bag should be constructed so as to preclude so far as possible any migration of this slurry to the exterior or to any region of the bag where its aggressive properties will deleteriously affect the bag construction or its liquid-tightness.

Many ileostomy bags include a gas vent and filter to allow escape of flatus.

One area where problems have occurred with these known ileostomy bags is the region of attachment of the filter and associated parts to the bag.

It is an aim of this invention to provide an improved construction of ileostomy bag.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ileostomy bag comprising a pair of walls joined around their edges, one of the walls having a gas vent and filter arrangement in an upper region thereof, there being a gas-permeable liquid-impermeable membrane located to prevent faecal material coming into direct contact with the inner surface of the filter, characterised in that said membrane is mounted within and supported by a frame of plastics material and in that said frame is secured to the bag wall that carries the gas vent and filter arrangement.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ileostomy bag having a gas filter in an upper region of one bag wall, in which a gas permeable, liquid impermeable membrane is attached to said wall to protect the filter from contact with the bag contents, characterised in that the membrane is mounted in a drum head manner in a plastics moulded holder made of a synthetic plastics material which is directly weldable to the plastics material of the inner surface of the said wall.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the bag may be constructed so that the edges of the barrier wall are entrapped within the material of the frame in such a manner as to provide a mounting precluding liquid migration to the exterior of the frame along the interface between the frame and the barrier wall.

In a particular arrangement, the said mounting may be a labyrinthine type of mounting.

In a preferred embodiment, the bag walls may be made of a laminated film which includes at least outer and inner e.v.a. layers and a layer therebetween of p.v.d.c. The material of the frame is preferably e.v.a. or a plastics material which can be heat sealed to e.v.a.

The invention will be better understood from the following non-limiting description of an example thereof given with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a front view of one example of ileostomy bag according to the invention; Figure 2 is a rear view of one example of ileostomy bag according to the invention; Figure 3 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of the bag taken on the line A-A in Figure 1; Figure 4 is a diagrammatic front view of a frame (also called a holder herein) carrying a liquid-barrier membrane; and Figure 5 is a cross-section on the line B-B of Figure 4, showing (on an enlarged scale compared to Figure 4) one labyrinthine arrangement of membrane edges in the frame or holder.

Referring firstly to Figures 1-3, an ileostomy bag in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention includes a pair of walls 10, 12, joined by a heat welding or RF welding operation (or in any other suitable way) around their edges, the weld being shown at 14. The illustrated bag has a gas vent and filter arrangement, generally indicated at 16, in an upper region of the wall 10, and there is a gas permeable liquid impermeable membrane 18 located to prevent faecal material coming into direct contact with the inner surface of the filter arrangement 16. The membrane 18 is mounted within and supported by a frame 20 of plastics material, the frame 20 being heat sealed or otherwise appropriately permanently secured to the bag wall 10. This kind of mounting is sometimes referred to as a drumhead mounting.

As will be seen from the Figures, in the preferred embodiment the frame or holder as the case may be is of D-shape with the curvature of the curved portion of the D substantially conforming to the curvature of the upper region of the bag edge and the straight portion of the D is located substantially horizontally (assuming the ileostomy bag to be upright in normal position on a wearer) and is located a distance of about 1/7 to 1/3 of the height of the bag below the uppermost portion of the bag.

The wall 12 of the ileostomy bag, which is the rear wall when the bag is being worn in its normal position on the patient, has a stomal orifice 22 which is surrounded by one coupling element 24 of an ostomy coupling. The details of the ostomy coupling form no part of the novelty of the present invention, and therefore will not be further described in this application. An ostomy coupling which can advantageously be employed is that described and claimed in British Patent No. 1 571 657. For the comfort of the wearer, to give the wearer a soft and warm "feel", there is a needled plastics film overlay 26 covering the inner wall 12 of the bag and held in position in combination with the ileostomy bag by the same peripheral weld seam 14. Of course other means may be employed to attach the comfort film 26 if desired.

The comfort film 26 terminates at a lower edge thereof 28 and the illustrated ileostomy bag has a lower outlet portion 30 formed by lower portions of the walls 12 and 10. This lower outlet may be closed by any convenient kind of clip. One advantageous form of clip is the clip described and claimed in U.K.

Patent 2 188 085.

A chamber 32 is defined between the membrane 18 and the bag wall 10.

Flatus gases which have been expelled into the main compartment 34 of the bag pass through the membrane 18 and into the chamber 32. From that chamber they pass into the filter 16 and then out through a suitable small orifice, for example a hole or a collection of small holes or an s-shaped slit, the slit or holes being located at the region indicated at 36. The holder or frame 20 is constructed of a synthetic plastics material, such as e.v.a., that can be readily heat welded, heat sealed or otherwise securely attached to the bag wall 10.

Plastics welding is preferred since this enables the frame 10 to be fixed to the bag wall 10 by a similar kind of process and in a similar machine to the machine that is used to join the bag walls 10 and 12 together via the weld seam 14.

A number of different membranes may be employed as the membrane 18.

For example one may employ a suitably perforated p.t.f.e. membrane, or a suitably perforated polyurethane film membrane. Alternatively, one may employ a chalk-filled polypropylene film. The currently preferred material for the membrane is however a porous polyurethane membrane which has been subjected to a post-treatment by a water repellant which is sprayed on.

Suitable water repellants are commercially available.

An advantage of the construction particularly described herein is that the edges of the membrane 18 are wholly enclosed within moulded synthetic plastics material and hence migration of liquid along the surface of the membrane 18 is effectively precluded.

Referring to Figures 4 and 5, Figure 4 illustrates a suitable shape of frame or holder 20 whose configuration is chosen to fit within the upper region of an ileostomy bag. As seen from the cross section of Figure 5, the edge portions 18a are bent over in a labyrinthine manner to give secure attachment to the frame and are then trapped wholly within the moulded material of the frame 20. This method of encapsulating the edge of a membrane forms no part of the novelty of the present invention.

It will be seen that there has been particularly described and illustrated herein an advantageous design of ileostomy bag, which overcomes most if not all of the problems afflicting currently available ileostomy bags.

Claims (8)

1. An ileostomy bag comprising a pair of walls joined around their edges, one of the walls having a gas vent and filter arrangement in an upper region thereof, there being a gas-permeable liquid-impermeable membrane located to prevent faecal material coming into direct contact with the inner surface of the filter, characterised in that said membrane is mounted within and supported by a frame of plastics material and in that said frame is secured to the bag wall that carries the gas vent and filter arrangement.

2. A bag according to claim 1 in which the edges of the membrane are entrapped within the material of the frame in such a manner as to provide a mounting precluding liquid migration to the exterior of the frame along the interface between frame and membrane.

3. A bag according to claim 2 in which the said mounting is a labyrinthine type of mounting.

4. A bag according to any preceding claim in which the bag walls are of a laminated film which includes at least outer and inner e.v.a. layers and a layer therebetween of p.v.d.c., and in which the material of the frame is e.v.a. or is a plastics material which can be heat sealed to e.v.a.

5. An ileostomy bag having a gas filter in an upper region of one bag wall, in which a gas permeable, liquid impermeable membrane is attached to said wall to protect the filter from contact with the bag contents, characterised in that the membrane is mounted in a drum head manner in a plastics moulded holder made of a synthetic plastics material which is directly weldable to the plastics material of the inner surface of the said wall.

6. An ileostomy bag according to any one of claims 1-5 in which the frame or holder as the case may be is of D-shape with the curvature of the curved portion of the D substantially conforming to the curvature of the upper region of the bag edge and the straight portion of the D is located substantially horizontally (assuming the ileostomy bag to be upright in normal position on a wearer) and is located a distance of about 1/7 to 1/3 of the height of the bag below the uppermost portion of the bag.

7. An ileostomy bag substantially as hereinbefore particularly described with reference to, and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

8. Any novel combination or sub-combination disclosed and/or illustrated herein.