GARMENT FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT

Abstract

An example garment in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure includes an article of clothing covering at least a portion of a body of a user, an access port providing an open space through the garment for a medical device, and a removable patch covering the access port.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/734,160 filed on Dec. 6, 2012.

BACKGROUND

For various reasons, healthcare professionals may need to gain access to a patient's skin. For example, the patient may require chemotherapy or dialysis treatments, or any number of other treatments. In order for the access point to be exposed for healthcare professionals to prep and access, patients arriving at healthcare facilities may need to disrobe or change into a gown.

The need to obtain access to certain parts/sites on a patient's body for examination or treatment requires that a patient wear a hospital gown. Such gowns are not suitable for street wear and do not allow a patient to move around a hospital since they have large openings enabling ready access by medical personnel for examination or treatments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Example implementations are described in the following detailed description and in reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example garment in accordance with the principles disclosed herein;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example patch in accordance with the principles disclosed herein;

FIG. 3 illustrates a view of the example garment of FIG. 1 during operation with a patch that is detached in accordance with the principles disclosed herein;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example garment in accordance with the principles disclosed herein;

FIG. 5 illustrates a view of the example garment of FIG. 4 during operation with a patch that is open in accordance with the principles disclosed herein;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example garment in accordance with the principles disclosed herein;

FIG. 7 illustrates a view of the example garment of FIG. 4 during operation with a patch that is open in accordance with the principles disclosed herein, and

FIG. 8 illustrates a flow diagram of a method in accordance with the principles disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various implementations described herein are directed to garments that can be worn by patients during medical treatment. More specifically, and as described in greater detail below, various aspects of the present disclosure are directed to a manner by which a patient may wear a garment with port access patches while receiving treatments involving chemotherapy or alike, which requires chemotherapy or dialysis ports.

Aspects of the present disclosure described herein implement an article of clothing with a patch for the body allowing medical access to a patient's body by removing the patch. According to various aspects of the present disclosure, the approach described herein allows a user to utilize a garment allowing comfort or warmth while providing the health care providers easy access to the skin to connect the devices used during the treatment, without the need to remove any clothing, to roll up or down sleeves, or otherwise manipulate clothing to receive treatment. Accordingly, the approach described herein allows for easy access to patients' ports by simply removing the patch completely or partially to uncover the port, which may then be placed back on during or after treatment. This also provides safety by preventing any tugging at the IV needle, which may cause harm to the patient and nurses if exposed to the skin.

Moreover, aspects of the present disclosure described herein also disclose garments which are suitable as regular clothing outside of a medical facility in addition to allowing the patient to remain active or mobile prior to or after they receive medical treatment. Among other things, this approach allows the user to wear garments that are fashionable. Further, the patches may be interchangeable. Accordingly, this approach advantageously provides the user with the option to wear the same shirt with different patches for a different look.

In one example in accordance with the present disclosure, a garment is provided. The garment comprises an article of clothing covering at least a portion of a body of a user, an access port providing an open space through the garment for a medical device, and a removable patch covering the access port.

In another example in accordance with the present disclosure, a method for making a garment is provided. The method comprises providing an article of clothing covering at least a portion of a body of a user, the article of clothing having a removable patch situated over an access point, the access point receiving a medical device to be applied to the body of the user. The garment is used for receiving medical treatment.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example garment 100, which provides nurses and other medical staff easy access to patient's skin and implanted ports in accordance with an implementation. The garment 100 according to the present disclosure comprises a removable patch 110, which is described in greater detail below. It should be readily apparent that the garment 100 depicted in FIG. 1 represents an illustration and that other components may be added or existing components may be removed, modified, or rearranged without departing from a scope of the present disclosure. For example, while garment 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes only one removable patch 110, the system may actually comprise a plurality of removable patches, and only one has been shown and described for simplicity.

The garment 100 may be used by medical technicians and nurses to remove the patch 110 without exposing any other portion of the patient's body to administer treatment. In one implementation, the garment 100 may include an article of apparel, such as a shirt, which covers the upper body of the user. The garment 100 may be any configuration suitable for covering the body. For example, it may be a long or short sleeve shirt. In another implementation, it may be a sleeveless shirt. In further implementation, it may be a pullover, or jacket-type shirt or sweatshirt. More specifically, the shirt may have a crew neck, a v-neck, a zipper front, or a buttoned front. The garment 100 may be worn by children and adult patients.

The patch 110 and the cut out in the garment 100 may be used as the access point. In one implementation, the patch 110 may be any type of material such as velcro, fabric, plastic or alike. In another implementation, the patch 110 may be a mix of different types of materials. The patch 110 may have a size large enough to fit 4×6 adhesive or alike, over a needle to secure the needle in place and also allows for the patch to be placed back over during treatment if desired. The patch 110 may be placed on different places on the garment 100. For example, the patches can be on the left and/or right sides of the garment at the chest, abdomen, and/or arm. Further, the patch 110 may be placed on the sleeve portion of the garment 100.

In one implementation, the patch 110 may be provided with the garment 100. In another implementation, additional patches may be bought separately in numerous colors and designs (ex: pink for breast cancer, red with hearts, or customized with logos for professional, collegiate football teams). In various implementations, the entire garment 100 may be, or may be formed of, the same material as the patch 110. For example, the garment 100 and the patch 110 may be formed of neoprene.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example patch 200 in accordance with an implementation. More specifically, FIG. 2 shows the patch 110 of FIG. 1 in greater detail. The patch 200 is shown to have a curved rectangular shape. It should be readily apparent that the patch 200 represents an illustration and that its shape, material, color, and other characteristics may be changed without departing from a scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example garment 300 in accordance with an implementation. The garment 300 according to the present disclosure comprises an access port 310 and a removable patch 320. It should be readily apparent that the garment 300 depicted in FIG. 3 represents an illustration and that other components may be added or existing components may be removed, modified, or rearranged without departing from a scope of the present disclosure. For example, while the garment 300 illustrated in FIG. 3 includes only one removable patch 320, the system may actually comprise a plurality of removable patches, and only one has been shown and described for simplicity.

The access port 310 may be an opening which passes through the garment 300 to provide access to a receiving element or a portion of a person's skin. The access port 310 may be surrounded with a type of material that the patch 320 can attach to (e.g., velco, adhesive). In various implementations, the material surrounding the access port 310 may be formed of an elastically stretchable material. The material may be stretched and deformed to provide greater access to the skin under the access port 310. The access port 310 may be aligned with an area of skin on a user which must be accessed. Further, the material may be used for preventing shrinkage to access port, for example, after washing and/or use.

The access port 310 may be of sufficient size to secure one or more of a variety of medical appliances, including, but not limited to, a G-tube, a catheter, a medical monitor or alike.

The patch 320 may cover the access point 310 completely when the patch 320 is attached to the access point 310. More specifically, the seam around the edge of the patch 320 with velcro may be secured to the underside that matches up to the velcro on the garment 300.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the patch 320 may be completely removable patch. In another implementation, the patch may be used a flap instead of being totally removed. FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate such an example.

As shown in FIG. 4, the garment 400 may include a flap 410. The flap 410 may be attached to the garment 400, and may be positioned to cover the access port in its closed position. The flap 410 may be equipped with holding elements to hold itself in place so that it may be positioned over the access port in the closed position.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the flap 520 may be attached to the garment 500, and may allow the access port 510 to be exposed in its open position. The flap 520 may be held in place by securing elements such as hook, loop fasteners, velcro and/or alike. Thus, a healthcare professional may open the flap 520 and access the port 510. Further, if needed, the healthcare professional may stretch the access port 510 to broaden the access.

In one implementation, the flap 520 may include a fabric panel sewn to the garment 500 across the top of an access port and having hooks and loop strips located on respective sides of the flap 520 and access port 510. This enables the flap 520 to be folded down to expose the access port 510 to allow access to the user's body for proceeding with the medical treatment. In another implementation, the hooks and loop fasteners can be replaced with straps, buttons, etc.

In one implementation, the flap 520 is shown to be located under the chest area on the garment 500. In other implementation, the flap may be located in other parts of the garment. FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate one of those examples in accordance with an implementation.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate an arrangement where the garments 600 and 700 have patches 610 and 710 respectively, which are placed on a user's top of the shoulder.

The patch 720 may be attached to the garment 700 at one or more attachment points. The patch 720 may be detached from the garment 700 at the attachment points. The attachment points may extend around the entire perimeter of the patch 720 or extend only along select portions of the perimeter. The location of the attachment points may allow access to medical devices. For example, the attachment may be located along the upper edge of the patch 720. When the patch 720 is detached or opened, the chest/shoulder of the patient may be exposed, allowing access to a medical device such as a cardiac monitor.

Turning now to the operation of the garment 100, FIG. 8 illustrates an example process flow diagram 800 in accordance with an implementation. In one implementation, the process 800 in response to receiving an instruction from a user to use the garment 100 during a medical treatment. For example, a chemotherapy patient or dialysis patient may put the garment on and go to treatment.

The process 800 may begin at block 805, where a removable patch is provided with the garment. In particular, the garment includes a removable patch that covers an access port on the garment.

At block 810, the access port allows an open space on the garment. On such space, the user's skin is exposed. At block 815, a medical device may be received through the space created by the access port. For example, a user may remove the patch during a medical treatment and receive the treatment with the medical device received through the open space. In one implementation, the medical device may be kept in place with the help of the patch. In other implementation, the patch may be kept fully detached. Once the treatment is over and the medical device is removed, the patch may be placed back on the access port to cover the open space.

The present disclosure has been shown and described with reference to the foregoing exemplary implementations. Although specific examples have been illustrated and described herein it is manifestly intended that the scope of the claimed subject matter be limited only by the following claims and equivalents thereof. It is to be understood, however, that other forms, details, and examples may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure that is defined in the following claims.

Claims

1. A garment, comprising:

an article of clothing covering at least a portion of a body of a user;

an access port providing an open space through the article of clothing for a medical device; and

a removable patch covering the access port.

2. The garment of claim 1, wherein the patch is completely separable from the garment.

3. The garment of claim 1, wherein the patch is opened while staying attached to the garment at one attachment point.

4. The garment of claim 3, wherein the patch is adapted to cover the access port in a closed position and expose the access port in an open position.

5. The garment of claim 1, wherein the access port comprises a material surrounding the edges of the access port to adjust the shape of the open space.

6. The garment of claim 1, wherein the access port comprises a material surrounding the edges of the access port for the patch to attach to the access port.

7. The garment of claim 6, wherein the material is velcro.

8. The garment of claim 1, wherein the patch comprises a material surrounding the edges of the patch to attach to the access port.

9. The garment of claim 8, wherein the material is velcro.

10. The garment of claim 1, wherein the access port receives the medical device to be applied through the open space to the user's body.

11. The garment of claim 1, wherein the garment is a long sleeve shirt.

12. The garment of claim 1, wherein the access port is aligned with a body part of a user.

13. The garment of claim 1, wherein the access port and removable patch are located under the chest area of the user.

14. The garment of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of access ports and removable patches.

15. The garment of claim 1, wherein the removable patch has a color and design.

16. The garment of claim 1, wherein the removable patch is fabric.

17. A method of making a garment, comprising:

providing an article of clothing covering at least a portion of a body of a user, the article of clothing having a removable patch situated over an access point, the access point receiving a medical device to be applied to the body of the user,

wherein the garment is used for receiving medical treatment.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising allowing the user to choose the removable patch from a plurality of removable patches over the access point to accessorize the article of clothing.