Epicutaneous test plaster

Details Epicutaneous test plaster Epicutaneous test plaster

1999-07-15

2000-11-07

O'Connor, Cary

Surgery

Diagnostic testing

Sensitivity of skin to allergens or radiation

600584, 604304, A61B 500

Patent

active

061429546

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to an application aid for patch test plasters having at least one active substance receptacle arranged on a backing surface.
Patch test plasters are used in patch tests which serve, in particular, to identify the causes of allergic contact dermatitis. For this purpose, the test substance is applied to a test plaster which is then applied to selected areas of the patient's skin. After a predetermined period, the test plaster is removed.
The first reading of the patient's reaction to exposure to the active substance takes place immediately after removal of the test plaster; further readings are taken where appropriate at particular time intervals. It is moreover helpful to be able to mark the test site on the skin, so that the skin contacted with the test substance can be found again reliably.
The structure of patch test plasters is in principle as follows: absorbent flat materials, for example made of woven or nonwoven textiles, or containers which are open towards the skin are arranged as active substance receptacles on an adhesive backing layer or are formed in the backing substance itself.
The area of the test plaster which is to be brought into contact with the skin is covered by a detachable protecting layer before application. To date, flat textile materials such as, for example, woven or nonwoven fabrics, and polymers or metal foils, have been proposed as backing layer. A considerable disadvantage of known patch test plasters has been that the flexibility of the backing materials was too low to prevent premature detachment of the test plaster from the skin due to unavoidable body movements. To eliminate this disadvantage, DE-C 38 10 658 proposes a backing material made of a thin, highly elastic polymer film which is impermeable to liquid water but permeable to water vapour and whose ease of handling is ensured by attaching a redetachable, relatively stiff supporting sheet to the backing film surface facing away from the skin. The supporting sheet is removed after application.
However, despite this advance, the ease of handling of such test plasters has not to date been entirely satisfactory. On application it must be possible to grasp the plaster while avoiding contamination of the adhesive layer, including, of course, the active substance receptacles. It must also be possible to remove the supporting sheet conveniently after the plaster has been stuck on. Although assistance can be provided here by a supporting sheet projecting beyond the backing layer, this requires increased material and additional and/or complicated steps during production.
It is therefore an object of the invention to produce a patch test plaster which, while having good conformability, features acceptable ease of handling which can be achieved with justifiable means.
The achievement of this object has surprisingly been found in the case of a patch plaster having at least one active substance receptacle arranged on a backing layer, having a highly elastic backing film made of polymeric material which is impermeable to liquid water but permeable to water vapour and which is releasibly connected on the surface facing away from the skin to a supporting sheet and is provided on the surface facing the skin with an adhesive layer which is in turn covered by an at least two-part detachable protecting layer before application of the plaster, in that the protecting layer has hinge-like connection on two opposite edges to a supporting sheet.
This construction allows, inter alia, the supporting sheet to have the same surface area as the backing film, and thus additional cutting and/or punching steps to be avoided. The protecting layer parts can be swung outwards after detachment from the adhesive layer and can be grasped for application of the plaster without having to take into account contamination of the adhesive layer. After the plaster has been pressed onto the skin, the supporting sheet with the attached parts of the protecting layer can be removed without difficulty.
Another advantage of the invention is that i

REFERENCES:
patent: 2841138 (1958-07-01), Laub
patent: 4788971 (1988-12-01), Quisno
patent: 5044372 (1991-09-01), Anhauser et al.
patent: 5325864 (1994-07-01), Gerber

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