Medical hand covering
AssigneeStethoglove GmbH
InventorIan Alexander Webb
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Disclosed herein is a medical hand covering for tightly enclosing a hand holding a medical instrument to prevent and/or minimize transmission of infectious agents upon examination. The medical hand covering may be prepared by a variety of methods, such as dipping and curing or welding and die cutting. The medical hand covering may have a variety of uses, such as minimizing transmission of infectious agents and reduce anxiety in patients via inclusion of a printed character on the medical hand covering. Also disclosed herein are methods for packaging, devices for dispensing, methods for dispensing, and kits encompassing the medical hand coverings described herein.
Claims14
A method for protecting a patient from transmission of infectious agents comprising:
- grasping a stethoscope with fingers of an adult hand;
- then inserting the adult hand grasping the stethoscope into a fingerless medical hand covering, the medical hand covering tightly sealing the hand and stethoscope while allowing movement without generating disruptive sounds;
- wherein the medical hand covering comprises (A) or (B),
- wherein (A) comprises:
- a first surface corresponding to a palm side of the adult hand;
- a second surface corresponding to a dorsal side of the adult hand;
- the first surface and the second surface defining an inner cavity tightly enclosing the stethoscope and the adult hand grasping said stethoscope;
- and
- an opening on one end of the covering adapted to allow entry of the adult hand and the stethoscope into the inner cavity, and an opposite end of the covering being closed to prevent transmission of the infectious agents while using the stethoscope;
- and;
- an hourglass shape characterized by a wider width in a first portion of the inner cavity that is to enclose the adult hand grasping the stethoscope, a narrower width between said first portion and a second portion of the inner cavity at the one end of the medical hand covering where the opening is, said second portion having a wider width than the narrower width;
- the medical hand covering has a cross-section that is round or oval, an unstretched circumference around the medical hand covering when measured across a side of a palm or to a thumb of the adult hand ranges from about 200 mm to about 260 mm, and when the medical hand covering lays flat, each face having a width ranging from about 100 mm to about 150 mm;
- and, wherein “about” includes the recited number plus/minus 10%;
- and
- wherein (B) comprises:
- one or more materials defining an inner cavity tightly enclosing the stethoscope and the adult hand grasping said stethoscope;
- and
- an opening on one end of the covering adapted to allow entry of the adult hand and the stethoscope into the inner cavity, and an opposite end of the covering being closed to prevent transmission of the infectious agents while using the stethoscope, and;
- an hourglass shape characterized by a wider width in a first portion of the inner cavity that is to enclose the adult hand grasping the stethoscope, a narrower width between said first portion and a second portion of the inner cavity at the one end of the medical hand covering where the opening is, said second portion having a wider width than the narrower width;
- and
- the medical hand covering has a cross-section that is round or oval, an unstretched circumference around the medical hand covering when measured across a side of a palm or to a thumb of the adult hand ranges from about 200 mm to about 260 mm, and when the medical hand covering lays flat, each face having a width ranging from about 100 mm to about 150 mm;
- and, wherein “about” includes the recited number plus/minus 10%.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.