Wrist brace

Details Wrist brace Wrist brace

1999-08-02

2001-02-13

Lee, Kim M. (Department: 3761)

Surgery: splint, brace, or bandage

Bandage structure

Support covering

Reexamination Certificate

active

06186969

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to orthopedic wrist braces, more particularly, to a novel wrist brace which combines elastic and nonelastic fabric in its construction. The novel wrist brace makes it possible to vary the compression on the proximal portion of the wrist which is sought to be immobilized, while at the same time retaining freedom of movement of the distal portion of the hand.
A wide variety of wrist support devices are known in the art. These include various types of sleeves and wraps, some of which are adjustable and some of which are not.
A recent improvement in the state of the art is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,728,059, which discloses a wrist support comprised of a sheet of flexible elastic material having pockets for a rigid splint. The splint is formed with a curvature to conform to the user's wrist and palm. With the splint inserted into one of the pockets, the wrist support is wrapped around the wrist and hand and secured in place with a plurality of fastening wraps. The compression applied to the wrist by the wrist brace is adjustable by the fastening wraps, the position of which effects the degree of stretch of the elastic fabric, and thereby the compression on the wrist and hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,804 describes a wrist brace which comprises a preformed shell, with an elastic tongue which extends across the shell (after the manner of a tongue in a shoe). The patient's hand is inserted into and through the shell, after which the shell is tightened using a multi-string lace extending over the elastic tongue. The device is said to provide even distribution of all forces to immobilize the wrist, but, having a shell composed of a three-layer composite including a thermoformable plastic, would appear to be relatively inflexible. In addition, the need to apply tension to the laces at the same time the fastening straps to which said laces are attached are latched makes this device relatively complicated to use.
The prior art devices generally apply uniform compression over and around all portions of the wrist and hand to which they are applied. It would, however, be desirable to be able to apply greater compression to the proximal wrist, where it is needed, while at the same time maintaining a lesser compression on those portions of the hand where such compression is not needed and increased flexibility is desired.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a wrist brace which enables the amount of compression applied to the regions of the hand and wrist to be different, so that a higher compression can be applied to the proximal wrist area while a lesser compression is applied to the distal hand region.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a wrist brace which is easily applied and adjusted.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a wrist brace which combines the convenience of an elastic slip-on sleeve, with the adjustable tensioning advantages of an open-wrap brace.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an elastic wrist brace which avoids the use of natural latex.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
These and other objects are achieved by the wrist brace of the present invention, which comprises a sheet of flexible material having a distal edge, proximal edge and opposite lateral edges; a first of said lateral edges being substantially straight and a second lateral edge being provided with a plurality of fastening straps extending laterally, and being fastenable to an outer surface of said sheet of flexible material, a first portion of said sheet being formed of an inelastic material and a second portion of which is formed of an elastic material, said first and second portions being joined along a generally spiraled junction extending from the distal edge of said sheet to the proximal edge of said sheet, said junction being closer to said first lateral edge at the distal edge and spaced further apart from said first lateral edge at the proximal edge of said sheet, the inside surface of said sheet comprising a sleeve of elastic material attached to the inelastic portion of said sheet, generally along said first lateral edge, said sleeve opening to accommodate the thumb of a patient to whom the wrist brace is to be applied.
The elastic material from which the sleeve is formed may be the same or different than the elastic material forming the elastic portion of the sheet of flexible material.
In a preferred embodiment, the wrist brace of the present invention further comprises a pocket, running longitudinally between the proximal edge and the distal edge, secured on the outside surface of the sheet opposite the sleeve, such as by sewing, and having an inward kink at the distal end thereof. The pocket is adapted to accommodate a substantially inflexible splint, which itself is adapted to the anatomy of the inner surface of the hand. The splint may be made of, for example, aluminum or plastic.
It is also preferred that the fastening straps and the outside surface of the sheet material be provided with complementary hook and loop fastening means, such as that sold under the trademark VELCRO®, although other fastening means, such as buckles, snap-on connectors and the like could also be used.
In a further preferred embodiment, at least one of the fastening straps is of a length sufficient to wrap completely around the wrist of a patient when the wrist brace is applied to the patient's wrist.
In a particularly preferred embodiment, the wrist brace includes a substantially inflexible splint inserted in the longitudinal pocket, said splint having a curvature at its distal end to fit the concave palmer area above the lunate bone.
Optionally, the splint is reversible to fit either the left hand or the right hand.
These and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


REFERENCES:
patent: D. 259955 (1981-07-01), Helferich
patent: D. 306364 (1990-02-01), Hamilton
patent: D. 339866 (1993-09-01), Rice
patent: D. 340990 (1993-11-01), Kawamura
patent: D. 357745 (1995-04-01), Radwell
patent: 3710790 (1973-01-01), Lemon
patent: 4309991 (1982-01-01), DeMarco
patent: 4584993 (1986-04-01), Nelson
patent: 4854309 (1989-08-01), Elsey
patent: 5014689 (1991-05-01), Meunchen et al.
patent: 5421811 (1995-06-01), Moore et al.
patent: 5513657 (1996-05-01), Nelson
patent: 5725490 (1998-03-01), Conran
patent: 5728059 (1998-03-01), Wiesemann et al.
patent: 5769166 (1998-06-01), Nelson et al.
patent: 5769804 (1998-06-01), Harris et al.
patent: 5769808 (1998-06-01), Mattijs
patent: 6013044 (2000-01-01), Estwanik
patent: 6024715 (2000-02-01), Maxwell

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Wrist brace does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Wrist brace, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Wrist brace will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2567645