Abstract: An elastic bandage having an elongated length in which the bandage has a portion that extends along its length that is of a shade of a color that is a function of the amount the material is stretched, representing either a loose fit, a firm fit, or a tight fit. A novel color chart may be used with the elastic bandage that includes different shades printed thereon to assist the user during wrapping of the bandage around a part of a body. The elastic bandage may further include a second portion that extends along its length that is of a color different from the first portion and wherein, upon completion of a proper wrapping of the bandage, most of the first color of the first portion is visible and nearly none of the second color of the second portion is visible.

Abstract: A bandage and method for securing a tension member comprising a central body and a plurality of tabs disposed about the central body. A tension member may be disposed across or through a slit or aperture of the central body. A body adhesive on the lower surface of the central body may secure the bandage to the patient. The tension member may then be pulled across the upper surface of the central body and a first tab may be folded over and adhered to the tension member and central body. The tension member may then be pulled back across the first tab and a second tab may be folded over and adhered to the tension member and first tab. Likewise, the tension member may then be pulled back across the second tab and a third tab may be folded over and adhered to the tension member and second tab.

Abstract: A cover adapted to be worn over a user's limb to shield a cast from water exposure includes a shell formed of a single layer of a flexible, water resistant and breathable material. The shell surrounds an interior of the cover, including a lower interior chamber and an upper interior chamber. An open top end communicates with the upper interior chamber and is sized to permit passage of the user's limb and the cast therethrough and into the upper and lower interior chambers. A cinch strap with a releasable securing mechanism closes the open top end around the user's limb. An inner cuff separating the interior chambers includes an elastomeric opening that fits snug against the user's limb, above the cast, and can be tightened using a secondary cinch strap and cooperating fasteners. A segment of water absorbing fabric on an interior surface for absorbing moisture and water.

Abstract: This invention is related to an improved version of the wound wrapping and support means for using in a living body. Rapid wound dressing and wrapping are of significant importance and may save a lot of complications and lives. Also as important is the stability of the wrapped unit, a unit which does not stay stable on the wound will not function properly. The wound compression and prevention of bleeding are of significant importance as well as covering the whole area and preventing a site of wound to be covered. The adjustablility and being able to use one unit in more patients are of clinical and economical importance. This invention introduces a models combination of support units with straps, that can be used in various parts of the body. The new version allows the user to wrap a leg or arm easily and more securely. The use of more than one support is again stressed, so that these better unit can make the patient care a bit easier and help humanity.

Abstract: A method for donning a therapeutic garment system on a mammalian body, whereby the garments are adapted for donning and releasably securing in a close-fitting fashion so that a plurality of elasticized pieces may be releasably applied, utilizing fasteners, against an outwardly facing surface of at least one—and more often two—of the garments in an operative therapeutic configuration. At least one elasticized garment is included for donning around an area of a torso such as the upper-torso, lower-torso, or full-torso area; a second elasticized garment is included for donning and releasably securing in a close-fitting fashion around a portion of the body, generally other than that around which the first garment will be (or has been) donned. In addition to an outwardly facing surface adapted for accepting releasable fasteners, each garment has an under-layer with an inwardly facing surface to resist slippage.

Abstract: The invention relates to a variable tension chest support for use by patients having undergone thoracic surgery. The chest support may be worn directly on the skin of a patient and comprises a band of stretchable material and one or more grips which are wholly or partially concealed within pockets with which the patient may alter the tension of the chest encircling band. The device allows a patient to modify the level of tension applied to the chest, thus managing the recovery process, while providing a basic level of support at all times the support is in use.

Abstract: A wrap for encircling a portion of a living body has a relatively non-stretchable support and a strap that has an attached zone attached to the support. The strap is relatively stretchable along its length as measured from that zone and long enough to encircle the portion of the living body and attach, with some stretching, back to an attachment means on the support for keeping the encircled portion of the body wrapped. The strap has relatively stretchable material that stretches with stretching of the strap and serves to attach the strap back to the attachment means on the support after having encircled the portion of the body.

Abstract: A vibration dampening device is a patch with one or more step members that have distal ends extending from the patch. The patch is removably engaged or adhered to a wearer's skin. With the patch engaged, the distal ends of the step members have freedom of movement with respect to the patch. The patch optionally may further include one or more wing sections integrally formed therein that also have freedom of movement with respect to the portion of the patch engaged or adhered to skin. Step member and/or wing section movement counteracts longitudinal and/or radial vibrations traveling through soft tissue and musculature to dampen such vibrations.

Abstract: A therapeutic garment system for use on a mammalian body, and associated method of donning, whereby the garments are adapted for donning and releasably securing in a close-fitting fashion so that a plurality of elasticized pieces may be releasably applied, utilizing fasteners, against an outwardly facing surface of at least one—and more often two—of the garments in an operative therapeutic configuration. At least one elasticized garment is included for donning around an area of a torso such as the upper-torso, lower-torso, or full-torso area; a second elasticized garment is included for donning and releasably securing in a close-fitting fashion around a portion of the body, other than that around which the first garment will (or has been) be donned. In addition to an outwardly facing surface adapted for accepting releasable fasteners, each garment has an under-layer with an inwardly facing surface to resist slippage.

Abstract: A joint is created by stretching stretchable material and detachably/re-attachably attaching the stretched material to an attachment means such as a piece of hook-type fastener. The joint can be used in wraps for wounds, with or without supports.

Abstract: A flexible protective cover for preventing fluid from entering an open epidermal site on a user, comprising: a central portion having at least one rib, an edge connected to the central portion at an angle, a lip disposed around the edge, a sealing member disposed over the lip for providing a sealing engagement between the lip and the open epidermal site, and at least one adjustable strap removably connected to the central portion. Also disclosed is a flexible protective cover having a central portion, an edge connected to the central portion at an angle, an inflatable sealing member integral with the edge for providing the sealing engagement, and at least one adjustable strap removably connected to the central portion.

Abstract: A method for preventing infection and maintaining aseptic epidermal areas by preventing contaminated fluid from entering an open epidermal site on a user, comprising the steps of: removably attaching at least one adjustable strap to a reusable non-deforming flexible protective cover comprising a sealing member, covering the open epidermal site with the reusable non-deforming flexible protective cover while maintaining a space between the reusable non-deforming flexible protective cover and the open epidermal site, and tightening the at least one adjustable strap to secure the reusable non-deforming flexible protective cove over the open epidermal site to create a fluid-tight seal between the sealing member and the open epidermal site, thereby preventing contaminated fluid from entering the open epidermal site.

Abstract: An integrated bandaging system for encircling the abdomen of a horse. A ventral access opening selectively provides access to the horse's abdomen while the bandage remains in place. This ventral access opening is normally covered by a ventral window cover. However, the window cover may be easily opened so that an old dressing can be removed, an abdominal wound can be cleaned, and a new dressing applied. The invention has four major components: a main wrap, a saddle bridge, a ventral window cover, and a brace. The main wrap is easily placed around the horse's abdomen and secured using VELCRO® fasteners. It includes the ventral access opening. The saddle bridge attaches over the top of the main wrap and adjustably applies tension to the horse's mid section. The ventral window cover attaches over the ventral access opening and provides further adjustment of the tension on the abdomen. The brace applies over the points of the horse's shoulders, between the front legs, and over the ventral chest region.

Abstract: A support sling is provided. A partial sleeve component is provided and adapted to be secured to the upper/opposing upper arm/shoulder area of a user, the partial sleeve component including hook or a loop adhesive fabric. A shoulder strap is provided, the shoulder strap including a hook or a loop adhesive fabric. The shoulder strap is adapted to connect to a load. In one embodiment, the shoulder strap can be secured to an arm sling adapted to cradle an arm of a user. The combined arm sling and the shoulder strap is placed over the head of the user, with the user's arm being placed in the arm sling, with the hook or loop adhesive fabric of the shoulder strap being strategically adhered to the hook or loop adhesive fabric of the partial sleeve component in a position designed to place and hold the injured arm and/or shoulder in the appropriate position for optimum healing advantages and enhanced pain management/comfort.

Abstract: In a medical treatment method, magnetic elements are injected into organic tissues of a patient. The magnetic elements are disposed, upon injection, on opposite sides of tissues or a hole to be closed or collapsed. Owing to magnetic attraction between the magnetic elements, the organic tissues of the patient are drawn together to constrict tissues or to close or collapse a wound or vessel.

Abstract: A wearable vial holder for securing at least one vial of medication on the person of a medical practitioner comprises a body-engaging member structured and arranged to be secured to a part of the body of a medical practitioner, and a vial gripper affixed to the body-engaging member for releasably grasping and holding at least one vial so that the practitioner has access to the vial(s) for one-handed drawing of medication therefrom using a syringe with a needle. The vial holder includes a needle-puncture-resistant shield to protect the practitioner against accidental needle sticks.

Abstract: Disclosed is a strip of bandaging material having Velcro® strips at either end on opposite sides of the material. An absorbent pad is fixed near one end and on the side opposite the Velcro® strip. On the side opposite the absorbent pad, an S hook is provided with one end fastened to the material and the other end free. The absorbent pad is located over the wound and the longer end of material is wound around the extremity and fixed in place with the Velcro® stripe at the near end of the material. The remaining material is passed through the hook and pulled back in order to apply pressure to the wound and reduce blood loss. The remainder of the material is wrapped around the extremity and secured in place with the Velcro® strip on the far end.

Abstract: A surgical cast venting device comprises an elongate strip of porous fabric material and a number of relatively short, elongate plastic tubing members distributed over and attached to the elongate strip on one side thereof. The tubing members each extend substantially parallel to this one side and are open ended. The elongate strip can be wound around part of a human's body or an animal's body prior to application of a surgical cast. Preferably the tubing members each have ventilation holes distributed along their respective lengths. The fabric material can be gauze and the tubes can be attached thereto by adhesive. A multiple hook array fastener arrangement can extend along and be secured to a first longitudinal edge section and is adapted to detachably secure its edge section to a second, opposite longitudinal edge section when the fabric strip is wound around the body part. A number of different types of aerating devices that can be used instead of plastic tubing are also disclosed.

Abstract: This invention is related to wound dressings and supports in humans and animals. Commonly, adhesives and wraps are used for this purpose. However, the use of adhesive have multiple problems: they are difficult to use with elastic gloves since the adhesive tapes stick to the gloves, cause skin irritations and discomfort on removal, and do not adhere to the skin covered by hairs. Many times the hair has to be shaved which is a process of its own. Wound inspections or the exchange of dressing multiplies their problems and prohibits this process. Furthermore, wound wrapping cannot be done by use of adhesive tapes in an effective and convenient manner. Then there is the major issue of dressing a wound with one hand only, that occurs in certain circumstances and is very important to have a system that allows a person to be able to dress a wound by only one hand, since the other one can be wounded. These units are extremely helpful in this regard.

Abstract: A compression dressing for the treatment of lymphoedema can be applied directly by a patient without requiring the assistance of trained nursing staff. The dressing comprises a panel (1) of elastically stretchable material the outer surface of which has a loop pile structure. The panel is sized so that it can wrap once around a patient's limb with some overlap. A separable slide fastener is provided for connecting the panel to itself into a tubular support around the patient's limb, and comprises two rows of inter-engageable teeth mounted on two separate tapes (5,8). One tape (5) is secured to one longitudinal edge of the panel (1) and the other tape (8) is secured to an anchorage element which comprises a number of mutually spaced fabric tabs (11) each having on an under-surface hooks for anchoring the anchorage element (11) to the loop pile structure of the panel (1). The invention also provides a method of applying such a dressing to the limb of a patient.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to a reusable thermal pack that comprises a bag formed of a water-permeable fabric defining a plurality of laterally adjacent compartments, and a superabsorbent polymer disposed in the bag compartments, wherein the polymer forms a gel in the presence of an aqueous solution, and the bag compartments are gel-retainable. The thermal pack of the present invention can be applied as a cold or hot compress for medicinal purposes, and also as an aid for cooling down following exercise. The thermal pack of the present invention, once hydrated in the presence of the aqueous solution, becomes cool and stays cool for several days without refrigeration, and can be made cooler if chilled in the refrigerator or freezer, or warmed if placed in the microwave, if desired.

Abstract: A sheet-form hook capable of hooking to a material to be hooked, comprising a sheet-form substrate having thereon at least one projected portion formed by bending at least one piece notched in the substrate to at least one surface side of the substrate, the height of the projected portion from the surface of the substrate being at least 0.3 mm, and a fastening system using the sheet-form hook. The sheet-form hook can be utilized in the field of fastening systems in place of pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes and has a high resistance to staining, which is a weak point of a pressure-sensitive adhesive tape.

Abstract: The wound dressing securement device has one or more flexible adhesive base member strips that are secured to the skin around or at opposite sides of a wound with sufficient clearance for a wound dressing. A plurality of sheet retention members joined to one or more of the base members project vertically from an exposed surface of the base member. A flexible, foldable, stretchable hold-down sheet member has a plurality of openings to engage with engagement heads provided on the sheet retention members. The hold-down sheet member is sized to form a cover for the underlying wound dressing and bears against the wound dressing to hold it in position on the wound. When the wound dressing is to be changed, the hold-down sheet member is disengaged from the sheet retention members to uncover the wound dressing, and make it accessible for removal and replacement. The adhesive base member(s) remain in place during repeated changes of the wound dressing.