Medical garments and their use   

Abstract: Medical garments with features for improving patient privacy during a medical examination or treatment are provided. Garments of the invention also enable ease of access by a treatment provider.

The invention is related to and claims priority from the provisional application No. 61/303,134 filed on Feb. 10, 2011.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention is related to garments utilized in a medical and/or clinical setting for patient examination.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Examination of individuals in a clinical or medical setting most often requires the individual being examined to change into a clinical gown so as to allow the medical practitioner easy access to patient anatomy for examination. Typically, the clinical gown is made of a paper like fabric with no secure means for holding it close. The clinical gown is made with the primary objective of facilitating examination of the individual anatomy by a medical professional. Although the ease of use by the medical professional is an important objective in the design of clinical gowns generally, the comfort of the individual patient has been largely unaddressed by the clinical gowns available on the market today. The present invention addresses this unmet need and provides novel designs for clinical gowns that offer ease of use features for the medical professional coupled with significant improvements than ensure patient comfort while undergoing medical examination.

SUMMARY

The invention provides gowns for medical use with design features that allow easy access for medical professionals such as doctors and nurses to examine an individual and also help with protecting the individual\'s privacy with appropriate coverage. Various aspects of the invention enable superior coverage without the need for multiple “ties”, “buttons”, “snaps” or “velcro closures”. The main objective of the invention is to minimize the “openness” of the gowns and the number of “ties” that need to be secured and that are difficult to access, while maintaining a high degree of accessibility for the medical practitioner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of the present invention illustrating the overlapping front panels secured to a yoke along a top edge.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a second embodiment of the invention illustrating a design in which the overlapping panels are partially secured along a top edge to the yoke and the open corners are further secured with buttons or other securing means.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a third embodiment showing overlapping panels within a yoke region of the garment and overlapping front panels for two different access points.

FIG. 3-1 is a front view of a fourth embodiment of the invention showing overlapping panels within a yoke region of the garment, overlapping front panels for two different access points and securing means along the top edges of the yoke section and the back panel, and a tie extending out of the back panel from each of the two side edges of the back panel.

FIG. 4 is an inside and outside view of the back panel wherein the tie is shown attached at a central location of the back panel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The features and advantages of the invention are described below in reference to the preferred embodiments which have been set forth in detail in the examples in conjunction with the accompanying drawings shown in FIGS. 1 through 5. Each of the drawings utilizes the following legend for references to the various parts of the invention.

Number Description of Item 1. Yoke 2. Left Front Panel 3. Right Front Panel 4. Tie sewn on the inside of the Back Panel of the gown 5. Front Panels Overlap 6. Snap buttons located on the Yoke (1) and Left and Right Front Panels (2 and 3, respectively) 7. Snap buttons at the Shoulder and Back Panels.

Referring to FIG. 1, a slip-on clinical gown or medical garment that has over-lapping front panels down the length of the gown. A double thickness yoke (1) at the top that will have Panel (2) sewn at the left seam and extending towards the right seam. Another Panel (3) sewn at the right seam and going over (2) to create an overlap across the front of the gown. The over-lapping panels are sewn to Yoke (1) to secure them in place. The opening is on the front, but the gown could be worn either way to allow the opening either in the front or the back, as required by the medical staff. The neckline of the gown may be shaped in a U shape, a V shape or a round shape or any shape suitable to allow the gown to be slipped over a patient\'s head. The over-lapping panels will allow access to the medical staff for medical examination of the patient. There will be a tie (4) sewn on the inside of the back of the gown. The gown and tie may be made of any material including cotton fabric, synthetic fiber or paper. Both ends of the tie will come out of openings on both left and right seams of the gown. The tie could be tied in the front or back for patient\'s reassurance and emotional comfort that their privacy is secured. The gown will have a broad, and low neckline to allow access for cervical spine examination. The sleeves could be any length. The length of the yoke region is any desired length. Typically, the length of the yoke will be about 5 to about 6 inches. The width of the panels and the length of the gown will vary to accommodate varying sizes suitable for different size individuals.

Referring to FIG. 2, a slip-on gown that has an over-lap front panels down the length of the gown. A double thickness yoke (1) at the top that will have Panel (2) sewn at the top edge starting from the left seam extending for a distance of about 3 inches to about 18 inches. It will be left loose for the rest of the length and secured at the end to the yoke with a snap button. Another Panel (3) sewn at the right seam and going over (2) to create an overlap at the center of the gown in the front. Panel (3) will be sewn similar to Panel (2), which means, it will be attached to the yoke (1) for about 3 inches to about 18 inches and then left loose to be secured to the yoke (1) at the end with a snap button (6). Both Panels (2 and 3) will cross over each other to create overlap (5) in the center of the front of the gown. The opening is on the front, but the gown could be worn either way to allow the opening either in the front or the back, as required by the medical staff. The over-lap panels will allow access to the medical staff for medical examination of the patient. The snap button feature will allow access to the medical staff for patient examination. A tie (4) sewn on the inside of the back of the gown is made of suitable material. Both ends of the tie will come out of openings on both left and right seams of the gown. The tie could be tied in the front or back for patient\'s reassurance and emotional comfort that their privacy is secured. The gown will have a broad and low neckline to allow access for cervical spinal examination. The sleeves could be any length. Optionally, the gown will have buttons or snap on closures along the top edge of the sleeves for ease in wearing and removal of the gown.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, a slip-on gown or garment that has over-lapping front panels down the length of the gown. A double thickness yoke (1) at the top that will have Panel (2) sewn starting from the left seam partially along the top edge to attach to the yoke. It will be left loose for the rest of the width and secured at the end to the yoke with a snap button (6). Another Panel (3) sewn starting at the right seam and going over (2) to create an overlap at the center of the gown in the front. Panel (3) will be sewn similar to Panel (2), meaning, it will be attached to the yoke (1) partially and then left loose to be secured to the yoke (1) at the end with a snap button. Both Panels (2 and 3) will cross over each other to create overlap (5) in the center of the front of the gown. The two panels will overlap with each other almost the entire width of each panel whereby maximum coverage is provided to an individual during use. The opening is on the front, but the gown could be worn either way to allow the opening either in the front or the back, as required by the medical staff. The over-lap panels will allow access to the medical staff for medical examination of the patient. The snap button feature will allow access to the medical staff for patient examination. There will be a fabric tie (4) sewn on the inside of the back of the gown as shown in FIG. 4. Both ends of the tie will come out of openings on left and right seams of the gown. The tie could be tied in the front or back for patient\'s reassurance and emotional comfort that their privacy is secured. The gown will have a broad, and low neckline to allow access for cervical spinal examination. The sleeves could be any length. The top seam at the shoulders on both sides of the neck will have snap-button closures (7) starting from the neck across the shoulder and down the length of the top of the sleeves. This feature will be appropriate for patients who are not able to slip on the gown either from the top and cannot slip on the sleeves. The nursing staff will be able to assist the patients by putting on the gown for them while in any position (standing, laying or sitting). This will facilitate complete assistance by the nursing staff.

Referring to FIG. 3-1, a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown. In this embodiment, the gown includes a yoke comprising overlapping layers to form a V neckline and the front regions of sleeves. The overlap layers are sewn in place and are attached to two overlapping panels, Front panel (2) and (3) respectively. Each of the Front panels is attached to the yoke partially and includes a overhang region that is not attached to the yoke. Snaps or buttons made of metal or plastic or other suitable material are used to secure the open edge of one panel to the other panel. The sleeve regions of the yoke, and front panels are attached to a back panel along the top edge and side edges respectively. The back panel also includes a tie sewn on the inside of the back panel and extending out from both side edges so as to allow the tie to be used as a belt around the gown when in use. Optionally, the top edges of the sleeves in the yoke panel are secured to the top edge of the back panel with snaps or button. During use, a medical practitioner will obtain access to the individual\'s anatomy by undoing the button or snap to partially fold the top front panel away from the individual to create an opening enough to obtain access and yet maintain a great degree of coverage for the individual. Similarly, if neck region evaluation needs to be performed, the medical practitioner has simply to undo the buttons along the sleeve edges to fold the yoke forward and away from the individual to obtain access. In a further preferred aspect, the length of the sleeves starting from the neckline is about 10 inches to about 14 inches. The total length of the gown is about 50 inches to about 62 inches. The width of each of the panels between the two side edges of each front panel is about 20 inches to about 30 inches. Additional variations to length, width, neckline shape and depth may be made to accommodate varying sizes suitable for individuals of all sizes.

The foregoing descriptions and drawings detail specific elements which may be employed to practice the present invention. One of skill in the art will readily know and appreciate how to devise alternate reliable variations at arriving at the same improvements by modifications to the components of the gowns covered in the disclosure of the present invention using ordinary skill However, the foregoing description should not be construed as limiting the overall scope of the present invention, but are to be considered as illustrative thereof.