Garment for Medical Treatment

Abstract

Disclosed, in general, is a garment featuring at least one sleeve. Each sleeve featuring a closable opening that extends the entire length of the sleeve. The opening of the sleeve allows for a patient to receive medical treatment without the added stress of having to remove their top or roll up their sleeves.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit and priority of U.S. Prov. Pat. App. Ser. No. 61/828,630 (filed May 29, 2013) entitled “Garment.” Said provisional patent application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety as if fully set forth herein.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The disclosed subject matter is the field of clothing. Specifically, the disclosed subject matter is in the field of clothing for patients receiving arm-targeted medical treatments.

2. Background of the Invention

Health professionals often provide medical treatments, such as chemotherapy or dialysis, via arm targeted intravenous or subcutaneous delivery. This means that many patients must expose an arm to the professionals, typically by removing their top or rolling up their sleeves. Exposing an arm by removal of clothing or rolling up a sleeve can be problematic for some patients.

Exposing an arm can be uncomfortable for the patient. For instance, the removal of clothing can cause additional stress in a patient who is already experiencing a stressful medical situation. Furthermore, hospitals and treatment rooms are often kept at low temperatures so that a patient who is removing clothes or exposing a limb may be uncomfortably cold during treatments. Patient discomfort can be exacerbated during long treatments, such as during four-plus hour dialysis treatments. Thus, a need exists for clothing that enables arm-targeted intravenous or subcutaneous delivery of medications without total exposure of the patient's arm.

Often patients undergoing arm-targeted intravenous or subcutaneous treatments are advised to wear sleeveless garments so they can avoid the discomforts associated with the removal of clothing. However, this solution can also be problematic for several reasons. First, arm-targeted intravenous or subcutaneous medical treatments often leave bruises or visible marks on a patient's arm. These marks may appear unsightly, and a patient wearing a sleeveless garment cannot immediately cover them once treatment has been completed. Second, a sleeveless garment is impractical during the wintertime in colder climates.

In view of the foregoing, a need exists for clothing that allows a patient to receive arm-targeted intravenous or subcutaneous treatments without removing his/her top or rolling up sleeves. A need also exists for clothing that enables a user to expose the arm during arm-targeted treatments and immediately cover the arm when treatments are done. Finally, a need exists for clothing that will keep a patient warns throughout the duration of the treatment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to disclose a garment that can be continually worn by patients prior to, throughout, and after arm-targeted intravenous or subcutaneous medical treatments. It is a further objective to disclose a garment that will keep a patient warm for the duration of a medical treatment. It is yet a further objective to disclose a garment that enables a user to expose the arm during treatments and immediately cover the arm when treatments are done. It is a further objective to provide a garment that is stylish and will not diminish the self-esteem of a patient who is already vulnerable.

In a preferred embodiment, disclosed is a garment featuring two sleeves. Each sleeve has a single closeable opening that extends the entire length of the sleeve. Preferably, the opening is closable via zippers, snaps, buttons, or the like.

Other objectives and desires may become apparent to one of skill in the art after reading the below disclosure and viewing the associated figures. Also, these and other embodiments will become apparent from the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The manner in which these objectives and other desirable characteristics can be obtained is explained in the following description and attached figures in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a garment;

FIG. 2 is a back view of the garment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top view of a sleeve from the garment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an environmental view of a patient wearing the garment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an environmental view of a patient wearing the garment of FIG. 1; and,

FIG. 6 is an environmental view of a patient wearing an alternate embodiment of a garment.

It is to be noted, however, that the appended figures illustrate only typical embodiments of the disclosed assemblies, and therefore, are not to be considered limiting of their scope, for the disclosed assemblies may admit to other equally effective embodiments that will be appreciated by those reasonably skilled in the relevant arts. Also, figures are not necessarily made to scale.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Disclosed, in general, is a garment for patients undergoing medical treatment. In one embodiment, the garment features two sleeves. Each sleeve has a single closeable opening that extends the entire length of the sleeve. The more specific details of the disclosed garment are described with reference to the figures.

FIGS. 1 and 2 respectively show front and back views of a garment 100 designed for medical treatment. As depicted in FIG. 1, the garment 100 is a zip-up sweatshirt or jacket. In an alternate embodiment, the garment 100 may be a pull-over sweatshirt, a windbreaker jacket, a long-sleeved button down shirt, or a t-shirt. The garment 100 features two sleeves 110. The sleeves 110 are preferably Reglan sleeves, meaning that the sleeves 110 curve to the shoulder area where there is no separation between the sleeve and the shoulder. On the slide of each of the sleeves 110 is an opening 120. As shown, the openings 120 are closed.

The opening 120 on each sleeve is best seen in FIG. 3. FIG. 3 depicts a side view of the sleeve 110. As shown in the figure, the opening is centric and 120 extends the entire length of the sleeve 110. Preferably, the opening 120 is closeable. In the embodiment shown, the opening 120 is controlled by a single zipper 130 that extends the entire length of the sleeve 110. In an alternate embodiment, the opening 120 may be controlled by snaps, buttons, or hook and loop fasteners.

FIGS. 4 and 5 depict environmental views of a patient 200 wearing the embodiment of the garment 100 show in FIGS. 1-3. In FIG. 5, the opening 120 of the sleeve 110 is fully closed using a zipper 130. FIG. 4 shows the zipper 130 fully unzipped so that the patient's 200 entire arm is exposed, allowing for the patient 200 to receive an arm-targeted medical treatment.

FIG. 6 depicts an alternate embodiment of the garment 100. In this embodiment the openings 120 on the sleeves 110 are closed using buttons 140 instead of a zipper. This closing mechanism allows a patient 200 to only expose a section of the arm instead of exposing the entire length of the arm.

Wearing the garment 100, a patient can receive medical treatment. First, the patient 200 dons the garment 100 while the opening 120 is closed. Then, the patient 200 goes to a medical facility. The medical facility may be a hospital, an outpatient clinic, a doctor's office, or a dialysis center. Third, the patient 200 opens the opening 120 of the sleeve 110. Fourth, the patient 200 receives an arm-targeted treatment according to a health care professional's specification. Once the treatment is complete, the patient 200 closes the opening 120 of the sleeve 110. During operation, the patient 200 can open the opening 110 fully, as depicted in FIG. 4 or partially as depicted in FIG. 6.

Other features will be understood with reference to the drawings. While various embodiments of the method and apparatus have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not of limitation. Likewise, the various diagrams might depict an example of an architectural or other configuration for the disclosed method and apparatus, which is done to aid in understanding the features and functionality that might be included in the method and apparatus. The disclosed method and apparatus is not restricted to the illustrated example architectures or configurations, but the desired features might be implemented using a variety of alternative architectures and configurations. Indeed, it will be apparent to one of skill in the art how alternative functional, logical or physical partitioning and configurations might be implemented to implement the desired features of the disclosed method and apparatus. Also, a multitude of different constituent module names other than those depicted herein might be applied to the various partitions. Additionally, with regard to flow diagrams, operational descriptions and method claims, the order in which the steps are presented herein shall not mandate that various embodiments be implemented to perform the recited functionality in the same order unless the context dictates otherwise.

Although the method and apparatus is described above in terms of various exemplary embodiments and implementations, it should be understood that the various features, aspects and functionality described in one or more of the individual embodiments are not limited in their applicability to the particular embodiment with which they are described, but instead might be applied, alone or in various combinations, to one or more of the other embodiments of the disclosed method and apparatus, whether or not such embodiments are described and whether or not such features are presented as being a part of a described embodiment. Thus, the breadth and scope of the claimed invention should not be limited by any of the above-described embodiments.

Terms and phrases used in this document, and variations thereof, unless otherwise expressly stated, should be construed as open-ended as opposed to limiting. As examples of the foregoing: the term “including” should be read as meaning “including, without limitation” or the like, the term “example” is used to provide exemplary instances of the item in discussion, not an exhaustive or limiting list thereof, the terms “a” or “an” should be read as meaning “at least one,” “one or more,” or the like, and adjectives such as “conventional,” “traditional,” “normal,” “standard,” “known” and terms of similar meaning should not be construed as limiting the item described to a given time period or to an item available as of a given time, but instead should be read to encompass conventional, traditional, normal, or standard technologies that might be available or know now or at any time in the future. Likewise, where this document refers to technologies that would be apparent or known to one of ordinary skill in the art, such technologies encompass those apparent or known to the skilled artisan now or at any time in the future.

The presence of broadening words and phrases such as “one or more,” “at least,” “but not limited to” or other like phrases in some instances shall not be read to mean that the narrower case is intended or required in instances where such broadening phrases might be absent. The use of the term “module” does not imply that the components or functionality described or claimed as part of the module are all configured in a common package. Indeed, any or all of the various components of a module, whether control logic or other components, might be combined in a single package or separately maintained and might further be distributed across multiple locations.

Additionally, the various embodiments set forth herein are described in terms of exemplary block diagrams, flow charts and other illustrations. As will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art after reading this document, the illustrated embodiments and their various alternatives might be implemented without confinement to the illustrated examples. For example, block diagrams and their accompanying description should not be construed as mandating a particular architecture or configuration.

All claims as originally filed in the application are fully incorporated tinct the specification as if fully set forth herein.

Claims

1. A garment featuring at least one Raglan sleeve wherein there is a closable opening on at least one sleeve that extends the entire length of the sleeve.

2. A garment according to claim 1 that is a zip-up sweatshirt.

3. A garment according to claim 1 where the opening is controlled by a zipper.

4. A garment according to claim 1 where the opening is controlled by snaps.

5. A garment according to claim 1 where the opening is controlled by buttons.

6. A garment according to claim 1 where the opening is controlled by a hook and loop fastener.

7. A method of receiving medical treatment comprising:

donning on a garment with at least one sleeve wherein each sleeve features a closable opening;

going to a medical facility;

opening the closeable opening of the at least one sleeve;

receiving an a n targeted treatment; and,

closing the opening of the sleeve.

8. A method of receiving medical treatment according to claim 7 wherein the opening of the sleeve is opened in a manner that exposes the entire arm.

9. A method of receiving medical treatment according to claim 7 wherein the opening of the sleeve is opened in a manner that exposes part of the arm.