Segmented Wound Pad for Tool-Free Thickness Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional wound pads used for cavity wounds are difficult to size and shape, requiring tools like scissors and scalpel, leading to a messy and time-consuming process, and often result in waste, especially when modifying thickness, which can be challenging and detrimental in a treatment environment.
Innovation Solution
Wound pads with separable layers that can be modified without tools, allowing for adjustment of thickness, length, and width, facilitating easier fitting into varying wound shapes and sizes, and packaged as a single piece for convenience.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional wound pads are supplied in standard sizes and shapes, then manufacturing and packaging are simplified, but they require individual alteration with tools which is messy and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The wound pad is divided into multiple separable layers that can be easily separated by the user without tools. Each layer can be independently removed or adjusted, allowing the pad to be customized to fit various wound sizes and shapes while maintaining ease of manufacture for standard layered structures
2Reliability
If wound pads are made from more rigid materials, then fluid channeling and structural uniformity under negative pressure are improved, but they become difficult to size and shape
Solution Approach 1:
The rigid wound pad is constructed from multiple separable layers, allowing the user to adjust the pad's thickness by removing individual layers. This maintains the structural integrity and fluid channeling properties of the rigid material while enabling easy customization to fit different wound cavities
Solution Approach 2:
The wound pad transitions from a fixed, static structure to a dynamic, adjustable structure. The separable layers allow the pad's thickness to be modified in situ to match the wound cavity depth, providing adaptability while maintaining the rigid material's beneficial properties
3Adaptability or versatility
If wound pads are individually shaped with tools, then they fit the specific wound better, but the process generates debris and waste
Solution Approach 1:
The pad is pre-segmented into separable layers during manufacturing, eliminating the need for cutting tools during application. Users can simply remove entire layers rather than cutting material, which prevents generation of debris and waste while still achieving the desired thickness and fit
4Adaptability or versatility
If wound pads are modified to adjust thickness, then they can fit deeper or shallower wounds, but the process is challenging and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The pad consists of multiple separable layers that can be quickly removed by hand without tools. This allows rapid adjustment of thickness to match different wound depths, significantly reducing the time required compared to traditional cutting methods while maintaining adaptability
Data Source
AI summary
Wound pads and systems and kits comprising wound pads whose total thickness can be modified by a user without the use of tools, comprising a plurality of separable layers having layer thicknesses less than the thickness of the wound pad. The wound pads may be used as wound fillers in the context of negative pressure wound therapy (also known as “vacuum treatment”, “reduced pressure” treatment).