GB2554452A

GB2554452A - A compression garment

Info

Publication number: GB2554452A
Application number: GB1616537.5A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Wright Tom
Original assignee: Haddenham Healthcare Ltd
Current assignee: Haddenham Healthcare Ltd
Priority date: 2016-09-29
Filing date: 2016-09-29
Publication date: 2018-04-04
Anticipated expiration: 2036-09-29
Also published as: GB201616537D0; GB2554452B

Abstract

A compression garment, suitable for the treatment of lymphedema in a limb, the compression garment comprising; a plurality of compression bands 1-9 for wrapping around a joint (e.g. knee, wrist, elbow) of the limb, and a compressible pad 15 located on the garment such that, in use, it is located adjacent to an inside portion of the joint and wherein the compressible pad comprises: a perimeter region comprising a resilient material and a centre region absent of the resilient material. Preferably, the compression bands are short stretch bands. Preferably, at least one compression band is configured to wrap around the limb substantially above the joint, with another band substantially below the joint. Preferably, the centre region of the pad comprises an aperture 17 which, most preferably, is substantially lenticular. The bands are secured in place by a fastener (safety pin, hook and loop, VELCRO (RTM)).

Description

(54) Title of the Invention: A compression garment

Abstract Title: A compression garment comprising a compressible pad situated at the inside of a joint (57) A compression garment, suitable for the treatment of lymphedema in a limb, the compression garment comprising; a plurality of compression bands 1-9 for wrapping around a joint (e.g. knee, wrist, elbow) of the limb, and a compressible pad 15 located on the garment such that, in use, it is located adjacent to an inside portion of the joint and wherein the compressible pad comprises: a perimeter region comprising a resilient material and a centre region absent of the resilient material. Preferably, the compression bands are short stretch bands. Preferably, at least one compression band is configured to wrap around the limb substantially above the joint, with another band substantially below the joint. Preferably, the centre region of the pad comprises an aperture 17 which, most preferably, is substantially lenticular. The bands are secured in place by a fastener (safety pin, hook and loop, VELCRO (RTM)).

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Figure 1

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Figure 2

A COMPRESSION GARMENT

The present invention relates generally to a limb compression garments and methods of applying a compressive force to a limb of a person.

Limb compression garments are used to treat a variety of conditions, most notably swelling and oedema, and in particular lymphedema, in which a higher than normal amount of fluid accumulates in the interstitium beneath the skin of a patient.

A variety of compression garments are known for applying a compressive force to various different parts of a user's body.

Of particular interest is the knee, where compression may be effectively applied above and below the joint, but bending of the knee limits how close to the knee such compression garments may be applied. For instance, if compression bands are applied around, immediately above or immediately below the knee joint, as the knee is bent the compression bands are creased and folded, leading to pinching of the skin behind the knee (i.e. the interior bend of the joint), as well as the application of a higher compression force over the knee.

The common solution to this problem is merely to cut an aperture in the portion of the bands that extend around the back of the knee (i.e. the inside of the joint). If this is done, then the lack of compression over this portion of the joint when the leg is unbent/straight, leads to swelling behind the knee, causing the skin of the user to protrude through the aperture. This often causes further discomfort to the user, and may lead to increased pinching of the skin behind the knee as the knee is bent, which can lead to redness, cell thickening and an increased risk of cellulitis.

As may be appreciated, similar problems can occur at the elbow or, conceivably, some other joint.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a compression garment for the treatment of lymphedema in a limb, the compression garment comprising: a plurality of compression bands for wrapping around a joint of the limb; and a compressible pad located on the garment such that, in use, it is located adjacent to an inside portion of the joint, wherein the compressible pad comprises: a perimeter region comprising a resilient material; and a centre region absent of the resilient material.

In this way, no hole need be provided in the compression bands, as no undesirable pinching or over compression occurs when a user bends their joint with such a design.

The compression bands may be, for instance, 'short stretch' bands, of the kind well known in the treatment of swelling/oedema/lymphedema; that is, the compression bands may comprise a material in which an end-of-stretch is reached abruptly at an extension less than approximately 100% of the material's unstretched length.

At least one compression band may be configured and/or arranged to wrap around the limb substantially above the joint. At least one compression band may be configured and/or arranged to wrap around the limb substantially below the joint. In this context, the terms above and below mean respectively on the side of the joint closer to the user's heart, and on the side of the joint further away from the user's heart.

At least one of the compression bands may be configured to wrap substantially around the joint, in that it may pass directly around the front and/or the back of the joint.

In use, the compression bands may wrap around the limb to form a substantially continuous surface; that is, the compression bands entirely cover the surface of a user's limb to which they are to be applied. In particular, there may be no holes or apertures in the plurality of compression bands taken together that would permit bulging of a swelling therethrough, or a lack of compression over that portion of the limb.

The compression bands may be secured around the limb by conventional means such as with a safety pin, or by means of a hook and loop closure (such as Velcro (RTM)).

The compression bands may be coupled together, either directly to one another or indirectly via another material. For instance, the compression bands may be stitched and/or sewn together. Alternatively, the compression bands may be integrally formed. For instance, two bands may be woven as a single piece.

The compressible pad may comprise a substantially planar compressible material. The compressible pad may have length and width substantially greater (for instance at least 5, 8 or 10 times) the thickness of the compressible pad.

The compressible pad may be located on an inside of the plurality of bands; that is, the compressible pad may be located between a user's joint and the plurality of bands, when in use.

The compressible pad may be disposed within a pocket on the plurality of bands. In this way, users may be protected from contact with the compressible pad directly, such that selection of material for the pad may be unhindered. In particular, the pocket may comprise soft/comfortable material.

The pad may be removable from the pocket. In this way, the compression pad may be selected from a plurality of pads of varying thickness, size, shape, resilience, and/or compressive strength.

The pad may have an exterior profile that may be substantially square, rectangular, triangular, circular, lenticular etc.

The centre region may have a shape that may be substantially square, rectangular, triangular, circular, lenticular etc.

The perimeter region may comprise the portion of the pad between the exterior profile and the shape of the centre region.

The centre region may be a hole and/or aperture. Alternatively, the centre region may comprise a material having a compressive strength substantially less than a compressive strength of the resilient material making up the perimeter region.

The hole and/or aperture may be lenticular in shape; that is, it may be biconvex, and may be symmetrical.

The above and other characteristics, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention. This description is given for the sake of example only, without limiting the scope of the invention. The reference figures quoted below refer to the attached drawings.

Figure 1 is a plan view of an inside of the compression garment when not in use.

Figure 2 is a plan view of an outside of the compression garment of figure 1, again when not in use.

The present invention will be described with respect to certain drawings but the invention is not limited thereto but only by the claims. The drawings described are only schematic and are non-limiting. Each drawing may not include all of the features of the invention and therefore should not necessarily be considered to be an embodiment of the invention. In the drawings, the size of some of the elements may be exaggerated and not drawn to scale for illustrative purposes. The dimensions and the relative dimensions do not correspond to actual reductions to practice of the invention.

Furthermore, the terms first, second, third and the like in the description and in the claims, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking or in any other manner. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances and that operation is capable in other sequences than described or illustrated herein.

Moreover, the terms top, bottom, over, under and the like in the description and the claims are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing relative positions. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances and that operation is capable in other orientations than described or illustrated herein.

It is to be noticed that the term “comprising”, used in the claims, should not be interpreted as being restricted to the means listed thereafter; it does not exclude other elements or steps. It is thus to be interpreted as specifying the presence of the stated features, integers, steps or components as referred to, but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps or components, or groups thereof. Thus, the scope of the expression “a device comprising means A and B” should not be limited to devices consisting only of components A and B. It means that with respect to the present invention, the only relevant components of the device are A and B.

Reference throughout this specification to “an embodiment” or “an aspect” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or aspect is included in at least one embodiment or aspect of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment”, “in an embodiment”, or “in an aspect” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment or aspect, but may refer to different embodiments or aspects. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics of any embodiment or aspect of the invention may be combined in any suitable manner, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from this disclosure, in one or more embodiments or aspects.

Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the description various features of the invention are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive aspects. This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed invention requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Moreover, the description of any individual drawing or aspect should not necessarily be considered to be an embodiment of the invention. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in fewer than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims following the detailed description are hereby expressly incorporated into this detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this invention.

Furthermore, while some embodiments described herein include some features included in other embodiments, combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the invention, and form yet further embodiments, as will be understood by those skilled in the art. For example, in the following claims, any of the claimed embodiments can be used in any combination.

In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth. However, it is understood that embodiments of the invention may be practised without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description.

In the discussion of the invention, unless stated to the contrary, the disclosure of alternative values for the upper or lower limit of the permitted range of a parameter, coupled with an indication that one of said values is more highly preferred than the other, is to be construed as an implied statement that each intermediate value of said parameter, lying between the more preferred and the less preferred of said alternatives, is itself preferred to said less preferred value and also to each value lying between said less preferred value and said intermediate value.

The use of the term “at least one” may mean only one in certain circumstances.

The principles of the invention will now be described by a detailed description of at least one drawing relating to exemplary features of the invention. It is clear that other arrangements can be configured according to the knowledge of persons skilled in the art without departing from the underlying concept or technical teaching of the invention, the invention being limited only by the terms of the appended claims.

Figure 1 is a plan view of an inside of the compression garment when not in use. The garment comprises three pairs of integrally-formed compression bands, stitched together; specifically an upper pair of compression bands 1 for wrapping around a thigh of a user, a lower pair of compression bands 3 for wrapping around a corresponding lower leg of a user, and an intermediate pair of compression bands 5 for wrapping over an intervening knee of a user, with a higher one 7 of the intermediate pair 5 configured to wrap around the limb substantially over an upper portion of the knee and a lower one 9 of the intermediate pair 5 configured to wrap around the limb substantially over a lower portion of the knee.

Each band may be secured in place by a respective fastener 11, which is shown in the form of a hook component of a hook-and-loop fastener (the loop component being present on an outer surface of each respective band.

A pocket 13 on an inner surface of the intermediate pair 5 contains a compressible pad 15 therein (shown dashed for clarity). Both the pocket 13 and the pad 15 are rectangular in shape and correspond with one another for a secure fit. The compressible pad 15 includes a lenticular-shape aperture 17 therein, having a major axis measuring approximately 12 cm and a minor axis measuring approximately 4 cm (however, this size may vary depending on the size of the limb/joint with which it is to be used.

Figure 2 is a plan view of an outside of the compression garment of figure 1, again when not in use. As can be seen, the upper 1 and lower 3 pairs of compression bands are cut away in a region 19 substantially corresponding to the aperture 17. However, the intermediate pair 5 has not been cut away, and is continuous in this region

19.

Claims

1. A compression garment for the treatment of lymphedema in a limb, the compression garment comprising:

a plurality of compression bands for wrapping around a joint of the limb; and a compressible pad located on the garment such that, in use, it is located adjacent to an inside portion of the joint, wherein the compressible pad comprises:

a perimeter region comprising a resilient material; and a centre region absent of the resilient material.

2. The compression garment of claim 1, wherein the compression bands are short stretch bands.

3. The compression garment of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein at least one compression band is configured to wrap around the limb substantially above the joint.

4. The compression garment of any preceding claim, wherein at least one compression band is configured to wrap around the limb substantially below the joint.

5. The compression garment of any preceding claim, wherein the centre region comprises an aperture in the compressible pad.

6. The compression garment of claim 5, wherein the aperture is substantially lenticular in shape.

Intellectual

Property

Office

Application No: Claims searched:

GB1616537.5

1-6

26 06 17

5 a plurality of compression bands for wrapping around a joint of the limb to form a substantially continuous surface; and a compressible pad located on an inside of the plurality of bands such that, in use, the compressible pad is located between an inside portion of the joint and the plurality of bands, wherein the compressible pad comprises a

10 substantially planar compressible material; and wherein a perimeter region of the compressible pad comprises a resilient material; and a centre region of the compressible pad is absent of the resilient material.

2. The compression garment of claim 1, wherein the compression bands are short

15 stretch bands.

20 4. The compression garment of any preceding claim, wherein at least one compression band is configured to wrap around the limb substantially below the joint.

5. The compression garment of any preceding claim, wherein the centre region 25 comprises an aperture in the compressible pad.