Surgery: splint – brace – or bandage – Bandage structure – Support covering
Reexamination Certificate
1997-06-16
2001-04-10
Lewis, Kim M. (Department: 3761)
Surgery: splint, brace, or bandage
Bandage structure
Support covering
C602S005000, C602S021000, C602S062000, C602S063000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06213969
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is a steadily increasing problem among workers who perform repetitive tasks generally, and among typists and other keyboard workers in particular. The pain resulting from injury to the median nerve and the nine tendons that pass through the bony passageway through the wrist can be excruciating, very difficult to treat and almost impossible to fully cure. Loss of productivity due to CTS among keyboard workers and even occasional keyboard users is estimated to be in the billions of dollars annually, and in some cases is so severe as to destroy a sufferer's ability to earn a livelihood at all.
A previous patent specification filed by one of the applicant inventors as U.S. Ser. No. 08/509491 described a resting arm splint that was proven efficacious in treatment of CTS by maintaining the wrist in a resting neutral position for extended periods of time at night, and contemplated that the wearer would regenerate hand and wrist functions through a resting period and then be able to remove the resting splint for a working period. In that invention, while effective for its design purpose, the bulk and extent of the semi-rigid battened splint from fingers to mid-forearm prevented sufficient movement of the hand and fingers to be operable in a working environment, and specifically would interfere with keyboard operation. The further development of the within invention addresses the need for a CTS treatment modality that can relieve pain by restraint of the wrist joint to a neutral position, yet be compact and light enough to enable working functionality at a keyboard. Further, appliance for this purpose should be comfortable enough to be worn for long periods in a working environment and be easily donned or doffed. Finally, if such a therapeutic appliance could be achieved, it would also operate as a preventive to further repetitive strain injury, and in some cases serve as a preventive if worn by a pre-injury user. While injured users may more readily be attracted to use of the within described carpel tunnel splint, the invention has been specifically designed to be attractive and comfortable in use so as to appeal to the pre-injury keyboardist, as it has been discovered that supporting and urging the wearer's hand and wrist to a neutral position is more comfortable and productive. In this regard, the carpel tunnel splint incorporates a stiffening batten that is necessary for therapeutic application to an injured user but optional to a pre-injury user, as that user finds the most comfortable mode of wear and usage in the operating environment. Comfort is an important consideration, since in the fast pace and urgency of the working environment, workers will shed uncomfortable, bulky or restrictive devices, no matter how therapeutic they may be.
While the majority of CTS complaints may result from keyboard work, other occupations also endure CTS or repetitive strain injuries and can benefit from the within invention. Contemplating other occupations, the device has been further designed to be adaptable to other working environments, in particular by replaceablility of the two elements of the appliance that support and stiffen the wrist, as the moldable wrist pad and the stiffening batten described later are contained in pockets in which other forms, sizes and resiliencies of material may be inserted.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The field of the instant invention is wrist support devices generally and carpal tunnel syndrome preventives specifically.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Orthopedic restraint devices of many types and styles fill the annals of the prior art and commerce, some effective for some purposes and some not. Mere restrained movement is a primary treatment for any joint injury or pain, and the present invention seeks to extend this tradition of joint restraint. However particularized restraint to a specific position that best serves treatment of a particular joint on an individual sufferer must address precisely positioned restraint on a variety of sizes and shapes of human appendage, and this problem is compounded by the need to accommodate some movement in a working environment. Thus the device can strike a compromise between maximum restraint and user adjustable comfort, while still retaining a significant stiffness that will urge, not force, the user's wrist position to the neutral.
Many commercial products are now provided that claim CTS relief by merely wearing a close-fitting glove product that will put pressure on the joint and provide a modest limitation on movement, and these, while providing minor comfort, are generally ineffective to either relieve painful nerve contact within the carpal tunnel or prevent further repetitive stress injuries. Others limit movement more severely by straps, buckles and rigid brackets and stays, which are often uncomfortable and also limit working effectiveness unacceptably. In the patent literature, U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,591 to Brinnand exemplifies a well-intentioned but non-optimized glove-style product and mode of treatment. Brinnand includes a pad of material under the heel of the palm to rest and isolate the hand from a desk surface; however the glove does little to restrain wrist flexion and does not adjust in any meaningful fashion to particular positions of angular restraint that will relieve carpal tunnel nerve contact or pressure. Such a product does not address or provide any intervention or remedy for CTS.
Thus it is an objective of the within invention to provide a therapeutic wrist appliance that will allow sufficient hand and finger movement in a working environment.
Another objective of the invention is to restrain wrist movement in a carpal tunnel syndrome sufferer to a position that will relieve pressure on nerve and tendons in the carpal tunnel (neutral position).
Still another objective is to be adjustable over a range of angular restraint that will customize the appliance to specific positions found most relieving to an individual user.
Yet another objective is to provide a wrist appliance that is easily put on and removed in order to promote constant or at least frequent use in a working environment.
Another objective is to provide a wrist appliance that, with the batten removed, functions as a device to prevent wrist injury.
An additional objective is to provide an appliance that is fully adaptable to a keyboard working environment, including the ability to conveniently adapt to typical support requirements of the hand and forearm relative to a computer keyboard on a flat desktop.
Another objective is to provide an appliance which is fully adaptable to other types of work such as check-out clerks, by changing the described moldable pad to another support of different resiliency or stiffness, or by removing the batten.
These and other objectives are met by the invention summarized and described particularly below.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Restraint of the wrist to the neutral position is critical to treatment and prevention of CTS. In the neutral position, the hand is aligned along the axis of the forearm and pronated, or rotated to the palm-down position. In this posture, the nerves and tendons passing through the carpal tunnel are free of contact with the bony enclosure of the tunnel and thus free from the primary source of abrasion, tension and resulting pain. One difficulty in achieving the neutral position is that it is inexactly defined and can be different for each sufferer, or even different as between the right and left hand of a single sufferer. Small angular movement or adjustments can be the difference between a fully neutral, relieved posture and a fully contacted, painful posture of the wrist. Thus each sufferer must find the neutral position by experimentation that best relieves pain, and thus an effective restraining appliance must accommodate a range of adjustments and retain the position found to be most effective by an individual wearer.
The instant invention achieves user restraint to the neutral positions by providing a s
Koby Aurelia
MacMorran Ian
Lewis Kim M.
McLellan J. F.
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