Texas Business Patent of the Day:  Did you know the skin over your knee can stretch from 7 inches to 15 inches? That's usually a good thing, but when you're attempting to heal a wound, that can complicate matters. In fact, t0 heal a wound on a knee, elbow or other joint can be convoluted and risky.  However, Four San Antonio men have devised a way to help your injuries involving joints heal. 

Mathew Francis Cavanaugh II, Justin Alexander Long, Richard Marvin Kazala Jr. and Eric Woodson Barta, all of San Antonio, recently received U.S. Patent 8,133,211 for “Reduced Pressure, Compression Systems and Apparatuses for Use on Joints.”

The four men applied for the patent on May 29, 2009.

The patent assignee is KCI Licensing Inc. of San Antonio.

The invention relates generally to medical systems, and more particularly, to reduced pressure, compression systems and apparatuses for use on joints, according to the patent documents. 

Physicians perform millions of surgical procedures each year around the world. Many of the procedures are performed as open surgery and an increasing number are performed using minimally invasive surgery, such as arthroscopic, laparoscopic, and endoscopic procedures. Many of the surgical procedures involve surgery on a joint, such as arthroscopic knee surgery, arthroplasty, or many others. 

Acute wounds are created during surgery, and these wounds require care for proper healing.

In many situations, a sterile, dry gauze is merely applied. In some situations, a dressing is applied and a compression garment is applied. In the case of surgery on joints, the care of the resultant wounds can be more challenging because a dressing is desired that will allow movement of the joint.

Consider as one example the context of knee surgery. The skin over the knee that is measured longitudinally while standing at seven inches stretches to nearly 15 inches when the knee is placed in a completely bent position. If that range of motion is desired, the dressing would need to be able to accommodate approximately a 100% stretch. 

Shortcomings with devices, systems, and methods for wound care on a moveable tissue site are addressed by the invention.

A system for providing reduced-pressure treatment to a moveable tissue site includes a flexible dressing bolster having a first side and a second, inward-facing side and a plurality of flexion joints formed on the dressing bolster. The system further includes a sealing subsystem for providing a fluid seal over the flexible dressing bolster and a reduced-pressure subsystem for delivering a reduced pressure to the sealing subsystem. The sealing subsystem and reduced-pressure subsystem are operable to deliver a reduced pressure to the moveable tissue site. The flexible dressing bolster is operable to allow movement of the moveable tissue site. 

In addition, a flexible, reduced-pressure dressing assembly for use on a patient's joint includes a flexible bolster body having a first side and a second side. The bolster body is formed from a bolster material and has a first plurality of bolster modules formed on a first side of the bolster body, each bolster module having a bolster ridge. The dressing assembly further includes a drape extending over the bolster ridges of the first side of the bolster body. The drape is formed from an elastomeric material and is operable to stretch longitudinally at least 80 percent of the drape's un-stretched length. 

In another example, flexible closing dressing bolster for use with a system for treating a linear wound on a patient's joint includes a bolster body having a first side and a second, inward-facing side, and is formed with a plurality of flexion joints. A first closing member is formed on the bolster body on a first longitudinal side of a center wound area. A second closing member is formed on the bolster body on a second longitudinal side of the center wound area. The first closing member and second closing member are operable to develop an inward closing force when the closing dressing bolster is placed under reduced pressure. 

Yet another example is a system for providing reduced-pressure wound treatment to a tissue site includes a flexible dressing bolster and a drape that at least partially covers the flexible dressing bolster. The drape includes a plurality of folds to facilitate bending of the tissue site. The system further includes a reduced-pressure source operable to deliver reduced pressure to the tissue site via the flexible dressing bolster. 

The patent also includes an apparatus for providing reduced-pressure wound treatment to a tissue site includes a flexible dressing bolster having a first surface and a second, inward-facing surface. The flexible dressing bolster includes a plurality of flexion joints. The apparatus further includes a drape at least partially covers the bolster. The drape includes a plurality of drape-extension devices to facilitate bending of the apparatus.