Filing Information

Inventor(s)	Nathan Mayer ·
Assignee(s)	MAYER NATHAN ·  View assignee updates
Attorney/Agent(s)	Amster, Rothstein & Engelberg ·
Primary Examiner	Lee S. Cohen ·
Assistant Examiner	Shedd; C. W. ·
Application Number	US6025333
Filing date	03/30/1979
Issue date	06/30/1981
Predicted expiration date	03/30/1999
U.S. Classifications	128/132.D  · 128/1R  ·
International Classifications	A61F 1300  ·
Kind Code	A
International Classifications	128132 D;132 R;1 B;1 R;139;910;205.26;30.2 ·

Patent Family

Abstract

A surgical procedure and apparatus therefor wherein a patient to be operated on is first wrapped with a plastic film sheet which is adhesively sealed to the patient's body remote from an operating area on the body, and is also sealed against an incision site on the body at the operating area. A sterilized atmosphere is provided beneath the film sheet for contacting the patient's skin. Another sterilized atmosphere is provided within a region substantially adjacent the body including the incision site, thereby enabling a surgeon to cut through the film sheet and into the patient's body with minimal risk of infection. Extensive and costly operating room sterilization procedures are thus significantly reduced, and patient comfort, as well as treatment, can be enhanced by controlling the temperature and humidity of the atmosphere provided beneath the film sheet.

Independent Claims | See all claims (10)

1. 1. A method of providing an aseptic environment over an incision site on a patient's body comprising the steps of completely enveloping at least the portion of the patient's body which includes said incision site with a flexible plastic film layer, adhesively attaching and thereby sealing said film layer to said patient's body remote from said incision site and adhesively attaching and thereby sealing said film layer to said patient's body proximally surrounding said incision site so as to form a region between the remote and proximal seals, the film layer, and the patient's body remote from said incision site, providing a circulating first sterile atmosphere within said region, enveloping said region and said incision site with a flexible plastic layer which isolates said region and said incision site so as to form a volume therebetween, and conditioning and providing a second circulating sterile atmosphere within said volume.
2. 5. Apparatus for providing aseptic conditions about a proposed incision site on a patient's body comprising a first barrier for enveloping and isolating the proposed incision site, said first barrier comprising a flexible sheet of plastic film, said film being of a size for wrapping entirely about the patient's body, means for adhesively attaching said flexible sheet to said patient's body remote from and at and proximally surrounding the incision site, means for creating a first circulating conditioned sterile atmosphere between said first barrier and the patient's body, a second barrier enveloping said first barrier, and means for creating a second sterile atmosphere between said first barrier and said second barrier, said second barrier being constructed and arranged so that a surgeon may reach through said second barrier and operate through said first barrier by cutting said first barrier to obtain access to the proposed incision site.