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US 4,051,848 AGranted
Synthetic skin wound dressing
OwnerNorman S. Levineinventor
Life of this patent
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OwnerNorman S. Levineinventor
Estimating the term…
A wound dressing which acts as a temporary synthetic skin is provided for the eventual healing of tissue partially or completely denuded of skin. The dressing is a unitary structure which is stretchable in two dimensions and is comprised of an outer component and an inner component. The outer component is a microporous membrane permeable to gases but impermeable to micro-organisms. The inner component is a three dimensional matrix structure made of at least two substantially coextensive layers of knitted fabric each bound into the other at closely spaced points to retain stretchability. Each fabric layer is knitted from threads spaced from each other at such a distance that cellular elements from the denuded tissue may invade the dressing to promote healing. The inner component must be thick enough to allow for uniform invasion by cellular elements from the denuded wound, but not so thick so as to allow a large portion of the dressing to be filled by tissue exudates and body fluids, rather than cellular elements representing fibroblastic ingrowth, and not so thick as to prevent infection within such an accumulation from being recognized.
A unitary wound dressing comprising an inner component for application to tissue denuded of skin, and an outer component bonded to and substantially coextensive with said inner component, said inner component being made of at least two substantially coextensive layers of knitted fabric each bonded to the other at closely spaced points which will allow said inner component to readily stretch in two dimensions, said inner component having a thickness and thread spacing suitable for uniform invasion by cellular elements from said denuded tissue, said outer component comprising a stretchable membrane which is permeable to gases, but impermeable to microorganisms.
A three-dimensional unitary surgical-medical dressing comprising at least two substantially coextensive layers of knitted fabric, each layer bonded to the other to closely spaced points which allow said dressing to stretch in two dimensions, said layers being of a sufficient number to produce a dressing having a thickness suitable for fibroblastic ingrowth to anchor said dressing to tissue denuded of skin, but not so thick as to allow a large portion of the dressing to become filled by tissue exudates and body fluids, said fabric layers being knitted from thread such that said threads of each layer are spaced far enough apart to permit invasion by cellular tissue elements but close enough to allow for secure adherence of said dressing to the tissue.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.