Wound dressing containing a vacuum pump

Abstract

The present invention relates to a wound healing PVA sponge dressing using negative capillary pressure of the dressing material together with auxiliary negative pressure for wound treatment. The PVA sponge dressing is pretreated with gram positive and gram negative biocidal 5 dyes for insertion into or over a wound. A negative pressure pump is mounted to the PVA sponge dressing to produce additional capillary pressure for withdrawing fluid or water vapor from the sponge dressing and a cover is mounted over the sponge material and negative pressure pump forming a unitary sealed package for placement over a wound.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for wound treatment comprising:
 applying negative pressure to a wound using a porous material having a natural capillary pressure;   supplementing the negative pressure applied by the porous material using a negative pressure pump connected to the porous material by 
 turning the pump on; 
 turning the pump off; and 
 turning the pump on again. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein supplementing the negative pressure using the pump comprises applying supplemental negative pressure so that a total negative pressure on the wound remains in a therapeutic range. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 applying negative pressure to the wound using the porous material comprises applying negative pressure that is above a lower therapy threshold; and   supplementing the negative pressure using the pump comprises raising a level of pressure on the wound higher in a therapeutic range.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein supplementing the negative pressure using the pump comprises increasing negative pressure applied by the pump. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising replacing the porous material when the porous material is fully saturated. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising replacing the porous material when the pump no longer has power sufficient to hold a predetermined level of pressure on the wound. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising varying a ratio of negative pressure contribution from the porous material and pump during the wound treatment. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising adjusting negative pressure applied by the pump. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 detecting when a level of pressure on the wound is outside of a therapeutic range; and   turning the pump off when the level of pressure on the wound is above an upper therapy threshold.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising detecting decay of a level of pressure on the wound. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising detecting a rate of increase of a level of pressure on the wound. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the porous material comprises polyvinyl formal, polyvinyl acetal, polyvinyl acetal copolymers of vinyl esters, polyvinyl acetal copolymers of ethylene-containing repeat units, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the porous material comprises polyvinyl formal, polyvinyl acetal. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising calculating a level of pressure on the wound based on ambient pressure and vacuum in the porous material. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , comprising turning the pump on again if the level of pressure on the wound is at or below a lower predetermined level. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising turning the pump off again when the level of pressure on the wound subsequently reaches an upper predetermined level. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising measuring total pressure reduction in a cycle. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising monitoring battery level, leak detection, microcontroller health, blockage detection, loss of volume capacity, device lifetime, or a combination thereof of a wound negative pressure wound therapy device comprising the porous material and the pump. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising indicating a warning or shutting down the device when the device is no longer able to maintain pressure above a lower therapy threshold. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 tracking elapsed time that the device has provided treatment; and   indicating a warning or shutting down the device based on the elapsed time.