Textile fabric for placing on the skin and/or a wound of a patient, and transdermal patch and arrangement consisting of a transdermal patch and an evaluation unit

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10952635-B2
Application number	US-201615557595-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 4, 2016
Priority date	Mar 16, 2015
Publication date	Mar 23, 2021
Grant date	Mar 23, 2021

Abstract

A textile fabric is used to make a textile moisture sensor. The textile fabric has a top side facing away from the skin and/or a wound, and an underside that faces the skin and/or the wound and on which the textile fabric has a moisture-impermeable barrier. The textile fabric is formed from non-conductive warp threads, non-conductive weft threads, and conductive warp threads and/or conductive weft threads that are arranged such that an electrically conductive structure is formed in the textile fabric. The moisture-impermeable barrier on the underside of the textile fabric has at least one opening and conductive warp and/or conductive weft threads arranged in the region of the opening such that the conductive threads can come into contact with moisture from the skin and/or wound in the region of the opening.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A device comprising a transdermal patch for applying an active substance to a skin and/or a wound of a patient, and an evaluation unit, the transdermal patch comprising a textile fabric and an active substance reservoir, the textile fabric comprising a top side facing away from the skin and/or wound and an underside that faces the skin and/or wound and on which the textile fabric has a moisture-impermeable barrier, an adhesive layer provided on an underside of the moisture-impermeable barrier, and a removeable liner adhered to the adhesive layer, the textile fabric being formed from non-conductive warp threads and non-conductive weft threads and from conductive warp threads and/or conductive weft threads that are arranged such that an electrically conductive structure consisting of conductive warp and/or weft threads is formed in the textile fabric, wherein
at least two openings are defined through the moisture-impermeable barrier and the adhesive layer, below the conductive warp and/or conductive weft threads, the conductive warp and/or conductive weft threads being arranged in a first region of a first opening of the at least two openings and being arranged in a second region of a second opening of the at least two openings such that the conductive warp and/or conductive weft threads can come into contact with moisture from the patient's skin and/or wound in the first region and the second region,
the conductive warp and/or conductive weft threads form a first sensor and the conductive warp and/or conductive weft threads form a second sensor, the conductive warp and/or conductive weft threads that form the first sensor being arranged in the first region of the first opening of the at least two openings, and the conductive warp and/or conductive weft threads that form the second sensor are arranged in the second region of the second opening of the at least two openings,
the active substance reservoir is arranged in the first region of the conductive warp and/or conductive weft threads of the first sensor, which is arranged in the first region of the first opening, such that the first sensor can come into contact with both the active substance reservoir and moisture from the skin,
the evaluation unit is configured to detect an amount of active substance in the active substance reservoir and comprises a memory and a connection cable having a connecting part,
the connecting part has four connection contacts,
the evaluation unit comprises an apparatus for acquiring measured values from the first sensor and for acquiring measured values from the second sensor,
the apparatus is configured to obtain, from the measured values from the first sensor, a first measured value that correlates with the amount of active substance in the active substance reservoir and with moisture on the skin and/or the wound, and to obtain, from the measured values from the second sensor, a second measured value that correlates with the moisture on the skin and/or the wound, and
the apparatus is also configured to measure electrical resistance between the connection contacts.

2. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are formed as resistive sensors.

3. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are formed in each case by two warp threads or weft threads that are arranged at a spacing from one another.

4. The device according to claim 1 , wherein conductive warp and/or conductive weft threads form connection lines for the first sensor and conductive warp and/or conductive weft threads form connection lines for the second sensor.

5. The device according to claim 4 , wherein ends of the connection lines of the first sensor are formed as a first set of connection contacts and ends of the connection lines of the second sensor are formed as a second set of connection contacts.

6. The device according to claim 5 , wherein a portion of the textile fabric is formed as a connection tab, on which at least one of the first set of the connection contacts or the second set of connection contacts are arranged.

7. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the first opening in the textile fabric occupies a larger surface area than the second opening.

8. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the evaluation unit is configured to correct the first measured value using a correction value obtained from the second measured value.

9. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the evaluation unit is configured to generate a signal on the basis of an evaluation of the measured values from the first and second sensors, which signal indicates that there is active substance in the active substance reservoir, and/or to generate a signal that indicates that there is no active substance in the active substance reservoir.

10. The device according to claim 8 , wherein the evaluation unit is configured to compare the first measured value with the second measured value, and to generate a signal that indicates that there is no active substance in the active substance reservoir when the first measured value is the same as the second measured value or when the difference between the first and second measured values is smaller than a predetermined limit value.

11. The device according to claim 9 , wherein
the warp and/or weft threads of the electrically conductive structure are arranged such that four electric conductor track portions are arranged in the textile fabric at a spacing from one another, two conductor track portions of the four being arranged at a spacing from one another in the region of the first opening and forming the first sensor, and two conductor track portions of the four being arranged at a spacing from one another in the region of the second opening and forming the second sensor, and
a first connection line is formed leading to a first conductor track portion of the four, a second connection line is formed leading to a second conductor track portion of the four, a third connection line is formed leading to a third conductor track portion of the four, a fourth connection line is formed leading to a fourth conductor track portion of the four, and a connecting line is formed interconnecting the first and third conductor track portions,
first, second, third, and fourth connection contacts are formed at the ends of the first, second, third, and fourth connection lines, respectively, and
the evaluation unit comprises the apparatus and the apparatus is configured to measure the electrical resistance between the first connection contact and the second connection contact, the electrical resistance between the first connection contact and the third connection contact, the electrical resistance between the first connection contact and the fourth connection contact, the electrical resistance between the second connection contact and the third connection contact, the electrical resistance between the second connection contact and the fourth connection contact, and the electrical resistance between the third connection contact and the fourth connection contact.

12. A method comprising:
providing the device according to claim 1 ; and
removing the removeable liner from the adhesive layer.

Assignees

• Fresenius Medical Care Deutschland Gmbh

Inventors

• Heppe John

Classifications

• D03D15/00 Primary

  Woven fabrics characterised by the material, structure or properties of the fibres, filaments, yarns, threads or other warp or weft elements used · CPC title

• A61K9/0009

  involving or responsive to electricity, magnetism or acoustic waves; Galenical aspects of sonophoresis, iontophoresis, electroporation or electroosmosis · CPC title

• A61F13/00055

  Saturation indicators · CPC title

• A61F2013/424

  having an electronic device · CPC title

• D10B2509/022

  Wound dressings · CPC title