Compression Sleeve Structural Support for Bladder Spacing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current compression devices for preventing deep vein thrombosis and peripheral edema are uncomfortable due to trapped moisture, non-stretchable, and bulky, leading to patient non-compliance and potential health risks.
Innovation Solution
A compression sleeve design featuring elastic and breathable materials with strategically placed openings for moisture evaporation, a wicking inner layer to move moisture away from the skin, and a structural component to maintain spacing between bladder sections, ensuring comfort and effective blood flow while maintaining clinical efficacy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If impermeable material is used to maintain fluid pressure in bladders, then durability and clinical effectiveness are improved, but moisture accumulation and patient comfort deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates breathable mesh panels in the sleeve material that allow moisture vapor to pass through while maintaining the structural integrity and fluid pressure containment of the bladder system. This resolves the contradiction by enabling moisture evacuation without compromising the impermeable bladder's ability to maintain pressure for clinical effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediate breathable layer between the impermeable bladder and the patient's skin. This intermediate layer acts as a mediator that allows moisture to escape while the bladder maintains its pressure-containing function, thus resolving the conflict between durability and moisture accumulation.
2Reliability
If non-stretchable material is used to maintain compression pressure, then clinical effectiveness is improved, but patient mobility and comfort deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the sleeve into multiple inflatable bladders that can be independently inflated and deflated. This segmentation allows different portions of the sleeve to provide varying degrees of compression and flexibility, enabling patient mobility while maintaining overall compression effectiveness through coordinated bladder operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs dynamically controllable inflatable bladders that can adjust their pressure and volume in real-time. This dynamic system allows the sleeve to adapt to patient movement and provide appropriate compression levels, resolving the contradiction between maintaining compression pressure and allowing patient mobility.
3Reliability
If bulky bladder structure is used to retain fluid pressure, then clinical effectiveness is improved, but device weight and comfort deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses thin-walled, flexible bladder structures that can effectively retain fluid pressure without requiring bulky construction. The flexible thin film material provides sufficient pressure containment while minimizing the weight and bulk of the sleeve, resolving the contradiction between pressure retention and weight reduction.
4Reliability
If fixed position bladder design is used to maintain structure, then durability is improved, but skin chafing and comfort deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs bladders that can dynamically adjust their position and volume during compression cycles. This dynamic design allows the bladders to move with the patient's limb rather than remaining fixed, reducing skin chafing and irritation while maintaining structural stability through controlled inflation and deflation sequences.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The sleeve provides substantial cooling, reduces irritation, and improves patient compliance by enhancing comfort and mobility without compromising the effectiveness of blood flow augmentation, thus preventing blood clots.
Implementation Method 1
a wicking inner layer to move moisture away from the skin
Implementation Method 2
strategically placed openings for moisture evaporation
Data Source
AI summary
A method of forming a compression sleeve for being wrapped around a leg of a wearer includes securing two layers of flexible material together to at least partially define first and second adjacent flexible sections. The securing of the two layers of flexible material includes securing two bladder layers together to define a first inflatable bladder and a second inflatable bladder disposed more proximally than the first inflatable bladder when the sleeve is wrapped around the leg. The first bladder forms at least a part of the first flexible sleeve section and the second bladder forms at least a part of the second flexible sleeve section. The method further includes securing a structural component to the sleeve such that the structural component extends generally between the first and second adjacent flexible sections to maintain a spacing between the sleeve sections lengthwise of the leg when the sleeve is wrapped around the leg. And joining the bladder layers together at least at two weld points on opposite sides of the structural component to locate the structural component on the sleeve so as to maintain the spacing of the adjacent sleeve sections.