Ostomy appliance

Abstract

An ostomy body fitment for attaching an ostomy pouch to a person's body comprises a shapeable adhesive pad, and a shape defining member. In a first annular fixed shape zone, the shapeable pad is supported and shaped by the shape defining member. In a second central reshapeable zone, a portion of the adhesive pad is unsupported by the shape defining member, and can be molded to fit an individual's stoma. A flexible flange for removable adhesive attachment to an ostomy pouch has an attachment zone outside the periphery of the shape defining member, to reduce direct application of external forces.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to an ostomy appliance. In one form the invention relates to an ostomy appliance incorporating a shapeable adhesive which can be manipulated to form a custom shaped fit around a wearer's stoma. The invention may be applied to so-called one-piece appliances in which the adhesive mass is permanently attached to an ostomy pouch such that the body fitment is not intended to be separable from the ostomy pouch. The invention may also be applied to so-called two- (or more) piece appliances in which the adhesive is part of a separate body fitment to which an ostomy pouch is removably attachable. The ostomy appliance may have a generally planar adhesive configuration, or the adhesive may have a convex contour. BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION [0002] Reference is made to GB-A-2290974 which describes an adhesive body-side ostomy member, as illustrated in appended FIGS. 1 and 2. The member 10 includes a first medical grade adhesive 12 for s...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010] In the first zone, the exposed adhesive surface may enable the pad to be reshaped manually by folding, or rolling, back a portion of the adhesive pad in the first zone into adhesive contact with a portion of the exposed second adhesive surface. The exposed adhesive surface may thus facilitate or aid pliable shaping the adhesive to a new shape which may be at least partly retained by the adhesive engagement at the exposed second adhesive surface.

[0017] The flexible sheet may provide structural integrity for the adhesive pad. The flexible sheet may limit the amount and / type of (re)shaping which is possible, so that the shapeable region retains a desirable sheet-based form. The flexible sheet may also provide some degree of resilience, to cause the adhesive pad to tighten slightly around a stoma after shaping, in order to ensure a snug fit around the stoma.

[0022] This aspect of the invention therefore allows the same adhesive pad to provide both a region of well defined shape for secure attachment to the skin, and a shapeable region for enabling a custom fit to be molded for an individual's stoma. This removes the need to provide different adhesives, or different adhesive consistencies, or different adhesive thicknesses to provide the different adhesive characteristics in different zones.

[0027] This can provide a body fitment using a shapeable adhesive, which can at least partly isolate the shape defining member (which applies forces to the body) from a peripheral region of the flange to which load bearing forces may be applied. Such forces may be applied either when the pouch is pressed against the flange during attachment of the pouch, or when the pouch is worn in use and is supported by the body fitment.

[0029] In another form, it is preferred that a complementary (second) flange on the pouch, for adhesive attachment to the first (first-mentioned) flange, has an inner periphery which is larger than at least one of the inner and the outer peripheries of the shape defining member. This may isolate the shape defining member from external forces. The geometry of the flanges may also provide a significant degree of flexibility of the flanges even when a relatively rigid shape-defining member is used.

[0031] In a similar manner to the previous aspect described above, this can provide a body fitment which can at least partly isolate the pressure ring (which applies forces to the body) from a peripheral region of the flange to which load bearing forces may be applied. Such forces may be applied either when the pouch is pressed against the flange during attachment of the pouch, or when the pouch is worn in use and is supported by the body fitment.

Problems solved by technology

It may also limits reshaping of the adhesive, because the second adhesive surface is not exposed in the second zone.

Images