Negative Pressure Dressing With Locking Sheets for Swelling Immobilization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Swelling caused by trauma or pathologies such as lymphedema leads to discomfort, limited range of motion, and interferes with medical treatment, posing challenges in healing and recovery, and existing treatments for swelling reduction and immobilization are often inadequate or cumbersome.
Innovation Solution
A negative pressure therapy system with an immobilization component that transitions between flexible and inflexible states in response to pressure changes, using locking sheets to provide both decompression and immobilization therapy, enhancing swelling reduction and promoting healing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If negative pressure therapy is applied to reduce swelling, then blood perfusion and lymphatic flow increase, but the anatomical structure remains mobile which may interfere with treatment effectiveness
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines negative pressure therapy and immobilization into a single integrated dressing system. The immobilization component is pneumatically coupled to the negative pressure source, allowing both swelling reduction and immobilization to occur simultaneously through one device rather than requiring separate treatments
Solution Approach 2:
The dressing system performs multiple functions: it provides negative pressure therapy to reduce swelling, immobilizes the anatomical structure to prevent movement, and maintains both functions concurrently. This multi-functionality resolves the contradiction by making the system capable of addressing both mobility and treatment effectiveness requirements
2Reliability
If immobilization is applied to restrict anatomical structure movement, then treatment effectiveness improves, but swelling reduction may be compromised due to limited tissue decompression
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges immobilization and negative pressure therapy into a single integrated device. The immobilization component restricts movement while the negative pressure component simultaneously decompresses tissue and reduces swelling, allowing both functions to work together rather than interfere with each other
Solution Approach 2:
The immobilization component transitions from a flexible state during application to an inflexible state during treatment. This dynamic transformation allows the device to be easily applied and removed while providing rigid immobilization during the therapeutic phase, ensuring both treatment effectiveness and swelling reduction
3Stability of the object's composition
If a rigid immobilization device is used to restrict movement, then anatomical structure stability improves, but the device complexity and application difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The immobilization component is designed to be flexible during application and inflexible during treatment. This dynamic property allows the component to conform easily to the anatomical structure during application, then provide rigid stabilization during therapy, reducing both device complexity and application difficulty while maintaining stability
Solution Approach 2:
The immobilization component changes its mechanical properties (from flexible to inflexible) in response to pressure changes. When negative pressure is applied, the component transitions to an inflexible state that provides stable immobilization, while at atmospheric pressure it remains flexible for easy application and removal
4Ease of operation
If flexible immobilization material is used to allow easy application, then ease of operation improves, but immobilization effectiveness decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The immobilization component dynamically changes its mechanical state based on pressure conditions. During application at atmospheric pressure, it remains flexible for ease of operation. When negative pressure is applied during treatment, it becomes inflexible to provide effective immobilization, thus resolving the contradiction between ease of application and immobilization effectiveness
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 system effectively reduces swelling and immobilizes joints, facilitating healing by increasing blood perfusion and lymphatic flow, reducing swelling time to acceptable levels within 3-7 days, and allowing for easy application and reuse.
Implementation Method 1
a negative pressure source pneumatically communicable with the airtight pouch and operable to establish a negative pressure in the airtight pouch
Implementation Method 2
a plurality of sheets positioned in the airtight pouch, wherein each sheet has a thickness in a range between approximately 0.004'' and 0.006''. The plurality of sheets are configured to jam together to form an inflexible block when the negative pressure source establishes the negative pressure in the airtight pouch
Implementation Method 3
a negative pressure therapy component configured to expose an anatomical structure to a negative pressure when the negative pressure therapy component is applied to the anatomical structure and in response to operation of the negative pressure source
Data Source
AI summary
An injury treatment system includes a negative pressure source and a dressing pneumatically communicable with the negative pressure source. The dressing includes a negative pressure therapy component configured to expose an anatomical structure to a negative pressure when the negative pressure therapy component is applied to the anatomical structure and in response to operation of the negative pressure source. The dressing also includes an immobilization component coupled to the negative pressure therapy system, wherein the immobilization component is configured to transition from a flexible state to an inflexible state in response to the operation of the negative pressure source.