Rotatable Leg Wound Dressing for Negative Pressure Closure
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional wound closure methods like sutures and staples can cause tissue injury and impede healing due to additional punctures and localized stresses, while existing negative pressure wound therapy (TNP) systems require improvements to enhance wound healing by reducing tissue edema and bacterial load.
Innovation Solution
A wound dressing system with a support member having rotatable legs that adjust to create a sealed space over the wound, allowing for adjustable negative pressure application to promote healing by reducing the wound's width and facilitating closure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If mechanical closure techniques (sutures or staples) are used to close wounds, then wound closure is achieved, but additional punctures are made to the skin causing tissue injury and possible ischemia
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the need for mechanical puncture elements (sutures and staples) by extracting their closure function and replacing it with negative pressure application. The wound is closed through suction forces that draw wound edges together without requiring additional skin punctures, thereby eliminating the harmful tissue injury associated with mechanical insertion points.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention substitutes the mechanical closure system (sutures and staples requiring insertion punctures) with a pneumatic/negative pressure system. The negative pressure wound therapy device applies suction forces to close the wound from within, replacing the need for external mechanical fasteners that cause tissue damage at insertion points.
2Productivity
If mechanical closure techniques (sutures or staples) are used to close wounds, then wound closure is achieved, but highly-localized stresses are created at insertion points that impede and damage normal wound healing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the harmful localized stress concentration effect from the wound closure process by eliminating mechanical insertion points. Instead of concentrating forces at discrete suture or staple locations, the negative pressure system distributes closure forces uniformly across the entire wound surface, allowing natural healing processes to proceed without mechanical interference.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the stress distribution parameter from highly localized (mechanical sutures/staples) to uniformly distributed (negative pressure). By applying suction across the entire wound surface area rather than at discrete points, the system maintains reliable wound healing conditions while achieving effective closure.
3Reliability
If TNP therapy is applied to promote wound healing, then tissue edema is reduced and granulation tissue formation is stimulated, but the dressing may create a stiffened layer that hinders wound closure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by making the dressing structure adaptable and flexible rather than rigid. The foam dressing is designed to be compressible and conformable, allowing it to adapt to changing wound dimensions during the healing process. This dynamic characteristic prevents the formation of a stiffened layer that would otherwise hinder wound closure, while still maintaining the negative pressure seal necessary for TNP therapy 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 wound width and promotes healing by creating a sealed environment for negative pressure application, minimizing tissue injury and bacterial load, and allowing for more efficient wound closure without hindering the natural healing process.
Implementation Method 1
Negative pressure wound treatment utilizes devices that remove wound fluids by applying negative pressure suction to the wound
Implementation Method 2
a support member having a plurality of legs (also referred to herein as arms or body portions) and a top portion (also referred to herein as a top portion), the legs projecting from the top portion and being positionable adjacent a periphery of the wound
Data Source
AI summary
A wound dressing for use in the application of negative pressure to a wound, comprising a support member and a cover member positionable over the wound in use. The support member can have a first support element having a first portion aligned with a first axis and a body portion coupled with and extending away from the first portion, and a second support element having a first portion aligned with the first axis and a body portion coupled with and extending away from the first portion of the second support element. At least the body portion of each of the first support element and the second support element can be independently rotatable about the first axis. The support member can support at least a middle portion of the cover member above a surface of the wound so as to define a space between the wound cover and the wound.