Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61M—DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY; DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY; DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR
  • A61M39/00—Tubes, tube connectors, tube couplings, valves, access sites or the like, specially adapted for medical use
  • A61M39/10—Tube connectors; Tube couplings
  • A61M39/16—Tube connectors; Tube couplings having provision for disinfection or sterilisation
  • A61M39/165—Shrouds or protectors for aseptically enclosing the connector
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
  • A61B46/00—Surgical drapes
  • A61B46/10—Surgical drapes specially adapted for instruments, e.g. microscopes
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
  • A61B46/00—Surgical drapes
  • A61B46/20—Surgical drapes specially adapted for patients
  • A61B46/23—Surgical drapes specially adapted for patients with means to retain or hold surgical implements
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61M—DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY; DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY; DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR
  • A61M39/00—Tubes, tube connectors, tube couplings, valves, access sites or the like, specially adapted for medical use
  • A61M39/10—Tube connectors; Tube couplings
  • A61M2039/1066—Tube connectors; Tube couplings having protection means, e.g. sliding sleeve to protect connector itself, shrouds to protect a needle present in the connector, protective housing, isolating sheath

Definitions

• This invention concerns a sterile wrapping for protecting medical equipment while it is being used, in particular for the administration, the drainage or the sampling of substances such as liquids, for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes.
• cont-tminating agents can easily get into the equipment referred to above through the fittings for tubes, taps, valves and such that are part of the equipment itself, and cause serious infections in the patient using them.
• 0311.532, for example - includes:
• a medium consisting of a film made of a flexible, waterproof and strong material
• the layer of spongy material is fixed to the medium by means of thermally adhesive glue.
• the sideways and crosswise means of closure are also fixed to the medium by means of thermally adhesive glue.
• Said flexible protective wrapping has the following main drawbacks: the layer of spongy material which, during use, is impregnated with sterilising or anti- contaminant agents in the form of a liquid or paste, easily releases these agents, which then come out of the wrapping, scattering and soiling the medical equipment, the personnel and the patient;
• the glue used to fix the spongy layer and the means for closing it onto the medium easily loses its properties and therefore said parts become detached from the medium;
• said sterilising or anti-contaminant agents with which the layer of spongy material is impregnated form an insufficient barrier against the proliferation of the bacterial, microbial and viral content inside the wrapping and, therefore, on the equipment that is contained inside it. In any case, this barrier is liable to be dispersed and exhausted within a short time.
• the main purpose of this invention is to arrange for a sterile wrapping for the protection of medial equipment while it is being used.
• the wrapping must be capable of guaranteeing safe and lasting protection against contamination with bacterial, viruses and microbes of the equipment and such intended for medical use, used to administer substances to patients and to take sample and/or drain substances from patients, for example by means of infusion and sampling techniques.
• Another purpose is to arrange for a sterile wrapping as indicated above, consisting of a simplified structure, safe, handy, reliable to use, and easy to make from an industrial point of view.
• this invention envisages a sterile wrapping for the protection of medical equipment in use, the basic characteristics of which are the subject-matter of the main claim.
• Figure 1 is a plan view of the sterile wrapping for the protection of medical equipment in use, according to the invention, in an open position and showing its inside surface;
• Figure 2 and 3 are cross-section view on a larger scale, along lines II-II and HI-III of Figure 1 respectively;
• FIG. 4 is a view in perspective, consisting of a schematic illustration of the sterile wrapping for medical equipment according to Figure 1, on which a fitting with two taps for flexible tubes to be protected against contamination by bacteria, microbes and/or viruses is arranged;
• FIG. 5 is a similar view to that shown in Figure 4, but in which the sterile wrapping is folded back over itself and is closed so as to protect said fitting.
• 10 (Figure 1) indicates the sterile wrapping for the protection of medical equipment in use, according to this invention, and seen as a whole.
• Said wrapping 10 includes, basically, the following components: an external flexible laminar medium 11 ( Figures 2 and 3) with a high resistance, consisting, for example, of a flexible polyvinylchloride (PNQ film having an elliptical shape in accordance with the example illustrated; a cushion-like padding 12, consisting of fibres that are electrostatically charged in a permanent manner.
• PNQ film flexible polyvinylchloride
• a cushion-like padding 12 consisting of fibres that are electrostatically charged in a permanent manner.
• This padding 12 which has a circular profile contained in the laminar medium 11, is centred and fixed on one side of the medium itself ( hereinafter referred to as the internal surface), for example by gluing it with a double-adhesive strip, so as to leave one edge 11.1 free ( Figure 2) on the internal surface of said medium 11;
• a flexible finishing sheet 13 (Figure 2), made for example of cloth or non-woven fabric, overlapping said padding 12, having the function of containing the fibres of the padding itself; an edge flap 14, made for example of PNC, overlapping the inside surface of said flexible medium 11 along said free edge 11.1 and fixed, by means of seam for example, along the outer peripheral edge of the support 11 itself, so as to form a continuous pocket 15 (Fig. 2). Inside this pocket said padding 12 is partly inserted, along the profile of its circumference; means 16, which can be separated, used for closing the wrapping 10 when same is folded back along its median transverse axis X-X (Fig.l ) by overlapping the two halves.
• Said means of closure 16 consisting for example of means which have grip on each other when overlapped, such as so-called 'Nelcro", or of means that adhere to each other when overlapping, or means fitted with snap-fasteners, magnetic means or such, which are fixed for example by sewing or heat- welding them onto said edge flap 14.
• the fibres forming the cushion-like padding 12 are separate electrostatically charged fibres.
• the density of the charge is, for example, about 50 nC/cm .the fibres are charged in the two-pole mode.
• the rectangular fibres have, for example, a thickness of about 10 m and a width of about 60 m.
• the fibres are carded and form an open and uniform non-woven fabric.
• the electrostatic charges are located in the mass of the material and are therefore not influenced by external factor.
• a slot 17 ( Figure 1 ), the shortest axis of which coincides with the median longitudinal axis of wrapping 10.
• a through notch 17.1 extends from the slot 17 as far as the peripheral inside edge of the edge flap 14 along said Y-Y axis.
• Edge flap 14 is reinforced by a stiffening fin 17.2 (Figure 3), made for example of cardboard, coupled with said flap and notched in accordance with the shape of said slot 17 and along said notch 17.1.
• the cushion- like padding 12 made of fibres with a permanent electrostatic charge, provides an aseptic field inside the wrapping 10, forming an effective protection against contaminating agents such as microbes, viruses and bacteria:
• the protection prevents said agents from entering the equipment protected by said wrapping.
• the equipment itself or part of it is superimposed on the internal surface of the wrapping 10, in such a way as to arrange it in one half of the surface itself in respect of the X-X axis.
• the equipment illustrated schematically is a fitting R with two taps Rl, from which flexible tubes, C and Cl respectively, branch out.
• the flexible tubes Cl are arranged so that they pass through the slot 17, so that the edge flap 14 overlaps them partially.
• the flexible tubes C come out of the wrapping 10 on from opposite bands, parallel to said X-X axis.
• the wrapping 10 is then folded back over itself along said X-X axis, until it closes it completely, as illustrated in Figure 5, and the opposite parts of the means of closure 16 overlap each other.
• Whatever the means of closure 16 may be, on applying a slight pressure on their overlapping parts sealing of the protective wrapping 10 is achieved, and the wrapping is closed peripherally along its edge flap 14, with the equipment R kept stably inside it.
• edge flap 14 partially overlapping the tubes Cl, enables safe and effective closing of the wrapping 10, also folded back at the height of the tubes themselves, which lead freely out of the wrapping 10 through the slot 17, keeping them stably in position.
• the flexible tubes C come out of the wrapping 10 along the folding line parallel to the X-X axis.
• the wrapping 10 forms a closed chamber in which the equipment R is protected effectively against contamination by viruses, microbes and bacteria by means of the cushion-like padding 12, in which the equipment itself is wrapped.
• the cushion-like padding 12 in which the equipment itself is wrapped.

Landscapes

• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Heart & Thoracic Surgery (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Public Health (AREA)
• Surgery (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Biomedical Technology (AREA)
• Veterinary Medicine (AREA)
• Animal Behavior & Ethology (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Epidemiology (AREA)
• Molecular Biology (AREA)
• Medical Informatics (AREA)
• Pulmonology (AREA)
• Anesthesiology (AREA)
• Hematology (AREA)
• Infusion, Injection, And Reservoir Apparatuses (AREA)
• Materials For Medical Uses (AREA)
• Apparatus For Disinfection Or Sterilisation (AREA)
• External Artificial Organs (AREA)

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=11415776

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Cited By (2)

Citations (5)

• 1997
  • 1997-06-11 IT IT97TO000509A patent/IT1292763B1/it active IP Right Grant
• 1998
  • 1998-06-04 AU AU80212/98A patent/AU8021298A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1998-06-04 WO PCT/EP1998/003332 patent/WO1998056452A1/en active Application Filing

Patent Citations (5)

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