Hand-held medical device protective sleeve
OwnerRebecca L. Modin, Lisa A. Runioninventors
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Abstract
A clear, sealable isolation sleeve for use in a medical environment especially with hand-held electronic devices, for the purpose of reducing the spread of infectious diseases. The sleeve offers an isolated containment for such hand-held medical devices while in patient proximity. The sleeve features a perforated tear zone for easy removal and disposal. Embodiments of the present invention can be manufactured from a clear material that allows the hand-held device to read bar codes through it, while also allowing the clinician to read displayed data and manipulate keypads on the device all while contained within the sleeve.
Claims6
A method of preventing disease spread in a hospital-like environment comprising:
- inserting a hand-held medical instrument into a generally rectangular sterile transparent plastic sleeve having generally flat top and bottom surfaces, said sleeve allowing viewing of bar codes and data from said medical instrument through the plastic, said sleeve also having a tear-open stylus pen access port on said generally flat top surface, and a closing flap at a first end, said closing flap having a peel-and-stick adhesive strip;
- removing a pull-away strip from an adhesive coating on said adhesive strip;
- folding said closing flap over said first end so that said adhesive coating contacts a surface of said sleeve closing said sleeve around the instrument;
- using said instrument in proximity to a patient by reading bar codes or data through said plastic;
- separating a part of said sleeve near a second end of the sleeve by pulling on a tab on said second end causing a perforation around said sleeve to tear open;
- allowing said instrument to exit said sleeve;
- disposing of said sleeve according to an infection control protocol.
A method of preventing the spread of infectious diseases in a hospital-line environment comprising:
- selecting a generally rectangular transparent plastic sleeve with generally flat top and bottom surfaces with a proximal end and a distal end, said sleeve open at said proximal end and closed at said distal end with a flap at the proximal end that can fold over and close the proximal end, said sleeve having a peel-and-stick adhesive tab running across one surface of said proximal end adapted so that when said flap is folded over closing the proximal end, the adhesive tab contacts an outer surface of said sleeve keeping the sleeve closed, said sleeve also having a tear-away perforation running laterally around said sleeve located nearer said distal end than said proximal end of the sleeve, said sleeve also having a tear-open stylus pen access port on said generally flat top surface
- inserting a hand-held medical instrument into said sleeve, said flap being folded over and adhesively attached a surface of said sleeve to close said sleeve around said instrument;
- using said hand-held medical instrument by reading bar codes or data from said instrument through said plastic;
- tearing said sleeve at said tear-away perforation to remove said instrument, wherein said sleeve can be disposed of according to an infection control protocol.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.