Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
13ACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
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~ The present invention relates to therapeutic ana pro-
phylactic devices,and more particularly to sleeves for applying
compressive pressures against a patient's limb.
It is known that the velocity of blood flow in a
patient's extremities, particularly the legs, markedly decreases
during confinement of the patient. Such pooling or stasis o
blood is particul~~`, pronounced during surgery, immediately
after surgery, and when the patient has been confined to bed for
extended periods of time. It is also known that stasis of blood
is a significant cause leading to the formation of thrombi in the
patient's extremities, which may have a severe del~terious effect
on the patient, including death. Additionally, in certain
patients it is desirable to move fluid out of interstitial spaces
in extremity tissues, in order to reduce swelling associated with
edema in the extremities~
Devices have been proposed for use in increasing the
velocity of blood flow through the patient' 5 limbs and minimizing
edema, such as the devices disclosed in applicant's copending
applications Serial Nos. 625,g90 and 626,018, filed October 28,
1975, and incorporated herein by reference. These devices com-
prise a compression sleeve and a controller for sequentially
inflating and deflating pressure chambers in the sleeve. It is
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desirable that such sleeves may be adjusted to the size of a par-
ticular patient in order to permit use of thè sleeve on patients
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of varying leg sizes. Additionally, the sleeves may tightly
enclose the patient's limb, and it is desirable to increase ven-
tilation of the patient's limb beneath the sleeve.
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SUMNARY OF THE rNVENTION
A principal feature of the present invention is the
provision of an improved compress-ion sleeve for applying compxes-
sive pressures against a patient's limb.
The sleeve of the present invention comprises, a plural-
ity of separate fluid pressure chambers arranged longitudinally
al~ny the sleeve,-and a sizer portion located intermediate a pair
of adjoining pressure chambers. The sizer portion has a suffi-
cient length to permit adjustment of the sleeve between a first
position with the adjoining chambers being spaced apart a rela-
tively small distance and a second position with the adjoining
chambers being spaced from each other a relatively large distance.
A feature of the present invention is that the sizer
portion permits adjustment of the sleeve pressure chambers on
limbs of varying sizes.
Another feature of the present invention is that the
sizer portion may comprise a ventilation chamber having a plural-
ity of openings communicating with the ventilation chamber and
facing the patient's limb.
Thus, a feature of the present invention is that air
` may~be passed into the ventilation chamber and through the open-
ings to ventilate the patient 15 limb during use of the sleeve.
Further features will become more fully apparent in the
following description of the embodiments of this invention and
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` 25 ~from the appended claims.
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DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the drawings:
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Fig. 1 is a perspectivP view of a com~ression device
having a pair of compression sleeves of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a fra~mentary front plan view of the compres-
sion sleeve of Fig. l;
Fig. 3 is a back p].an v:iew o~ the sleeve of Fi~. 2;
Fig. 4 is a sectional v:iew taken substantially as indi-
cated along the line-4-4 of Fig. 3;
Eig. 5 is a sectional view of a sizér portion in the
: sleeve as folded to reduce the length of the sleeve; and
Fig. 6 is a fra~mentary front plan view of another
embodiment of the sleeve of the present invention.
~ DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
:~ , , Referring now to Fi~. 1, there is shown a compression
device generally designated 20 for applying compressive pressures
against a patient's extremities, such as the l,egs. The com~res-
sion device 20 has a control apparatus 22, and a pair of compres-.
sion sleeves 26 for enclosing len~ths of the patient's legs. As
disclosed in applicant's copending aPpl.icativns Serial Nos.
-~ 625,990 and 626,018, the control apparatus intermittently forms
one or more fluid pressure, pulses from a source S of. pressurizea
; gas during periodic compression or inflation cycles, and the
pulses are seParately applied to the sleeves 26 through two sets
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-~ of conduits 34a and 34b which are separately connected to the
sleeves. Also,-the sleeves are intermittently defIated by the
control apparatu!; 22 during periodic deflation or decompression
cycles between the compression cycles.
As shown in Figs. 2-4~ the sleeves 26 have a pair of
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flexible outer and inner sheet~ 36 and 38-~hich are made from a
~luid I~per~ious material, such as pol w ~nyl chloride. The
sheets 36 and 38 have a pair of si~e edges 40a and 40br and a
- paI~ of end edges 47a and 42b connecting the side edges 40a and
- b, A~ shown in ~i~s~ 3 and 4, the sheets have a plurality of
l~terally extend~n~ lines 44, such as lines of sealing, and a
pair of longitudinally extending lines 46, such as lines of seal-
ingr; connectIn~ the ~heets 36 and 38 to~et~er and connecting ends
of the lateral l~nes 4~ as shown.. The connecting lines 44 and
46 deine a plurality of pressure chambers 48ar 48b, 48c~ 48d,
48e~ and 48f which extend laterally in the sheet~ and which are
disposed longitudi:nally in the sleeve between the end edaes 42a
and 42b~ ~hen t~e sleeve is placed an the patient's leg, the
lo~ermost chamber: 48a ~s loc~ted on a lower part o~ the leg adja- .
cent the patient's ankle, while the uppermost chamber is located
on an upper part of the leg adjacent the mid-thigh.
As shown, the sleeve 26 has a pair of lines 44' and 44"
defining a ventilation chamber or sizing portion 50 which extends
between the adioining pressure chambers 48d and 48e, such that
the ventilating~chamber 50 separates the pressure chambers into
: a set of lower contiguous chambers 48a, b, c, and d, and a set of
: upper contiguous chambers 48e and f. The inner sheet 38 has a
plurality of ventilation openings 52 extending through the sheet
38 and communicating with the ventilation chamber 50. In addi- !
tion, the ventilation cham~er 50 has a sufficient length to permit
movement of the sleeve between a first position with the adjoining
.~ chambers 48d and e being spaced apart a relatively small distance
; ~ and a second position with the adjoining chambers 48d and e being -
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spaced from each other a relatively large distanc~. In one form,
the ventilating chamber 50 may have a length approximately the
same as the pressure chambers 48a-f.
In a preferred embodiment, the side edges 4Oa and 4Ob
and the connecting lines 46 are tapered from the end edge 42a
toward the end edge 42b. Thus, the sleeve 26 has a reduced con-
figuration adjacent its lower end to facilitate placement of the
sleeve on the more narrow regions of the leg ad~acent the patient' 5
ankles. Moreover, it will be seen that the connecting lines 44
and 46 define chambers having volumes which progressively increase
in size from the lowermost pressure chamber 48a to the uppermost
pressure chamber 48f. The relative size of the chambers facili-
tates the device to develop a compressive pressure gradient dur-
` ing the compression or inflation cycles which decreases from a
lower part of the sleeve adjacent the end edge 42b toward anupper part of the sleeve adjacent the end edge 42a. As shown in
Fig. 2, the sleeves 26 have a plurality of connectors 58 which
are secured to the sheet 36 and which communicate with the sepa-
rate pressure chambers and ventilation ~hamber in the sleeve 26.
As illustrated in Fig. 1, the connectors 58 are secured to the
conduits 34a and b, such that the conduits separately communicate
with the pressure chambers and ventilation chamber in the sleeve
through the connectors 58.
As best shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the sleeves 26 may have
a plurality of hook and loop strips 60 and 62, respectively, to
releasably secure the sleeves about the patient's legs. The hook
strips 60 extend past one of t~e side edges 40b of the sleeve,
while the loop strips 62 are secured to the outside of the outer
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sheet 36. During placement, the sleeves 26 are wrapped around
the patient's legs with the inner sheet 38 and ventilating open-
; ings 5~ facing the legs, and the hook strips 60 are releasably
attached to the associated loop strips 62 on the outside of the
sleeves in order to secure the sleeves on the legs and confinemovement of the sleeves away from the patient's legs when
inflated during operation of the device.
In use, the ~ontrol apparatus 22 intermittently
inflates the pressure chambers 48a-f in a manner producing a com-
pressive pressure gradient which progressively decreases from aIower to upper portion of the sleeve. After the compression
cycles have been completed, the control apparatus 22 deflates the
pressure chambers during periodic decompression cycles between
the compression cycles, after which thè control apparatus 22
repeats the compression cycles.
In addition, the control apparatus passes air through
the conduits 34a and b associated with the ventilation chambers
50 in the sleeves 26, and the air passes from the ventilation
chambers 50 through the openings 52 against the patient's legs.
In this manner, the compression device 20 causes passage of air
between the sleeves 26 and the patient's limbs in order to venti-
late the pat:ient's legs during use of the device. The air may be
continuously supplied to the ventilating chambers, or, if desired,
only during the decompression cycles when the sleeves are more
loosely fitted about the limbs.
The ventilation chamber 50 also comprises a sizing por-
tion of the sleeve in order to permit adjustment of the sleeve on
` limbs of varying lengths. Thus, for a patient having relatively
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long legs, the sleeves 26 are secured about the patient's limbs
with the ventilation chambers 50 :in a generally planar configura-
tion such that the ad]oining chambers 48d and e are spaced apart
a relatively large distance in their second position. For a
patient having relatively short legs, the ventilation chambers
or sizing portions 50 are folded about a laterally extending cen-
tral fold line 54, such that the effective length of the sleeves
26 between the -adjoining chambers 48d and e is reduced in their
first position. Thus, the sleeves 26 are secured about the
patient's legs with the sizing portions 50 folded into a configu-
ration of reduced longitudinal dimensions, and with the pressure
chambers located at the proper position on the patient's legs.
In this manner, the compression sleeves 26 may be readily adjusted
to the particular size of the patient's limbs in order to obtain
proper placement of the pressure chambers on the patient's limbs
and minimize the number of sleeves of differing lengths which i -
would otherwise be required to properly fit patients of varying
leg sizes. In a preferred form, the sleeve sizing portions 50
are located in the region of the patient's knees whether the
;~ 20 sleeves are secured about the patient's legs in their reduced
or enlarged configuration.
Another embodiment of the present invention is illus-
trated in Fig. 6, in which like reference numerals designate like
parts. In this ernbodiment, the sizing portion 50' is uninflated
during use of the d~vlce. The sizing portion may comprise a
closed chamber, or, if desired, may comprise a seal extending
between the adjoining chambers 48d and e. The sizing portion 50'
may be utilized to shorten or lengthen the compression sleeves
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for patients with varying leg sizes in a manner as previously
described.
The foregoing detailed clescription is givPn for clear-
ness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should
be understood therefrom, as modifi.cations will be obvious to
those skilled in the art.
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