US-20260124098-A1 - UPPER BODY AND ARM COMPRESSION GARMENT SYSTEM

US20260124098A1US 20260124098 A1US20260124098 A1US 20260124098A1US-20260124098-A1

Abstract

A compression garment system including an upper body garment and a controller. The upper body garment may include a torso garment portion and at least one upper arm garment portion. The upper body garment may include a plurality of pressure applying regions controllable to apply pressure to a plurality of portions of the upper body. The upper body garment may also include at least one underarm strap positionable proximate an underarm region of the user between the torso garment portion and the at least one upper arm garment portion. The plurality of pressure applying regions may include at least one underarm pressure applying region.

Inventors

Ryan Staab
Kristian D. GAMBLE
Brian Farmer
Shad Lindrud
Veronica H. BECKER

Assignees

TACTILE SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY, INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20240503

Claims (15)

1 . A compression garment system comprising: an upper body garment positionable proximate an upper body of a user, wherein the upper body garment comprises a torso garment portion, a left upper arm garment portion, and a right upper arm garment portion, wherein the upper body garment comprises a plurality of pressure applying regions controllable to apply pressure to a plurality of portions of the upper body, wherein the plurality of pressure applying regions comprises a plurality of torso pressure applying regions, at least one left upper arm pressure applying region, and at least one right upper arm pressure applying region, and a controller operably coupled to the upper body garment to control pressure applied by the plurality of pressure applying regions to the upper body, wherein the plurality of torso pressure applying regions are configured to apply pressure to a plurality of portions of a torso, wherein the at least one left upper arm pressure applying region is configured to apply pressure to a portion of a left upper arm, and wherein the at least one right upper arm pressure applying region is configured to apply pressure to a portion of a right upper arm.
2 . The compression garment system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one left upper arm pressure applying region comprises two left upper arm pressure applying regions and the at least one right upper arm pressure applying region comprises two right upper arm pressure applying regions.
3 . The compression garment system of claim 1 , further comprising an arm garment positionable proximate an arm of the user, wherein the arm garment comprises a plurality of arm pressure applying regions controllable to apply pressure to a plurality of portions of the arm.
4 . The compression garment system of claim 1 , wherein the torso garment portion comprises: a left torso portion to extend from a posterior of the torso across a left side of the torso to an anterior of the torso, a right torso portion to extend from the posterior of the torso across a right side of the torso to the anterior of the torso, wherein the right torso portion is removably couplable to the left torso portion proximate the anterior of the torso, a posterior torso portion positionable proximate the posterior of the torso and coupled to the left and the right torso portions proximate a neck region of the torso, a left wraparound portion extending from the posterior torso portion to extend around the left side of the torso to the anterior of the torso, wherein the left wraparound portion is removably couplable to at least the left torso portion to tighten the torso garment portion about the torso, and a right wraparound portion extending from the posterior torso portion to extend around the right side of the torso to the anterior of the torso, wherein the right wraparound portion is removably couplable to at least the right torso portion to tighten the torso garment portion about the torso.
5 . The compression garment system of claim 4 , wherein the torso garment portion further comprises a left strap and a right strap, wherein the left strap is attached to a portion of the left torso portion, extends inwards towards a central portion of the posterior torso portion, and then outwards around the left torso portion, wherein the right strap is attached to a portion of the right torso portion extends, inwards towards the central portion of the posterior torso portion, and then outwards around the right torso portion, wherein the left and right straps are movably connected to one another proximate the central portion of the posterior torso portion.
6 . The compression garment system of claim 5 , wherein the left strap is removably couplable to the left torso portion proximate the anterior of the torso and the right strap is removably couplable to the right torso portion proximate the anterior of the torso.
7 . The compression garment system of claim 5 , wherein the torso garment portion further comprises a cover attached to an exterior surface of the posterior torso portion over the left and right straps proximate the central portion of the posterior torso portion.
8 . The compression garment system of claim 5 , wherein each of the left and right straps extend from a proximal end attached to the left and right torso portions, respectively, and a distal end configured to be removably couplable to the left and right torso portions, respectively, wherein the distal ends of the left and right straps comprise a loop configured to be manipulated by a hand of the user.
9 . The compression garment system of claim 1 , wherein the upper body garment further comprises at least one underarm strap positionable proximate an underarm region of the user between the torso garment portion and the at least one of the upper arm garment portions, wherein the plurality of pressure applying regions comprises at least one underarm pressure applying region configured to apply pressure to a portion of the underarm region.
10 . The compression garment system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one underarm strap comprises a left underarm strap positionable between the left upper arm garment portion and the torso garment portion, wherein the at least one underarm strap comprises a right underarm strap positionable between the right upper arm garment portion and the torso garment portion.
11 . The compression garment system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one underarm strap is configured to extend between a posterior of the upper body garment and an anterior of the upper body garment, through the underarm region of the user.
12 . The compression garment system of claim 3 , wherein the arm garment extends between a distal end region and a proximal end region along a longitudinal axis, wherein the arm garment comprises a hand strap attached to arm garment proximate the distal end region, wherein the hand strap defines an opening between an interior surface of the arm garment and the hand strap, wherein the hand strap is configured to be gripped by the user such that the distal end region of the arm garment maintains position relative to the arm and a remainder of the arm garment is positionable relative to the arm, and wherein the controller is operably coupled to the arm garment to control pressure applied by the plurality of arm pressure applying regions to the arm.
13 . The compression garment system of claim 12 , wherein the hand strap extends between a first end and a second end, wherein the first end of the hand strap is attached to an interior surface of the arm garment and the second end of the hand strap is attached to an exterior surface of the arm garment
14 . The compression garment system of claim 12 , wherein the hand strap extends transverse to the longitudinal axis.
15 . The compression garment system of claim 12 , wherein the arm garment further comprises: a zipper extending from a distal end of the arm garment along the longitudinal axis. wherein the zipper is configured to couple a first region of the arm garment and a second region of the arm garment proximate the distal end region. a stiffener rod extending adjacent to the zipper along the longitudinal axis, and a tubing harness operably coupled to the arm garment at an elbow region of the arm garment.

Description

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/464,464, filed May 5, 2023, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. The present disclosure relates generally to the use of compression garments and compression garment systems that are donned on a portion of the body of a user. Once donned, the compression garments may apply pressure to one or more regions of a portion of the body such as, for example, upper body regions, torso regions, upper arm regions, arm regions, etc. Various types of compression garments may be used, for example, for treatment of lymphedema, edema, wound healing, etc. For example, garments may include inflatable chambers or cells (or other actuatable elements) to provide therapy to patients and may be positioned about any one or more body portions of a person or animal. Specifically, the garments may be positioned about body portions that exhibit swelling due to a build-up of lymph and that would benefit from compression therapy provided by the garments. For example, such chambers or cells may be inflatable to one or more different pressures in a variety of sequences to provide the therapy to the patient by moving lymph from one region to another. In other words, such compression garments may be placed around at least a portion of an individual's body for use in applying pressure to the body at an affected extremity. These compression garments may be donned (e.g., put on) and doffed (e.g., taken off) by patients themselves or with help from others. SUMMARY The exemplary garments described herein may include an upper body garment that includes a torso portion and at least one upper arm portion (e.g., covering the shoulder and bicep regions). Further, the upper body garment may include a plurality of pressure applying regions that are controllable to apply pressure to a plurality of portions of the user wearing the garment. Specifically, the upper body garment provides coverage at the underarm region (e.g., the armpit) due to the intersection between the torso portion and the at least one upper arm portion. Therefore, the upper body garment may help to provide pressure to an underarm region of the user wearing the garment (e.g., the underarm region may be an area susceptible to a build-up of lymph). Additionally, the upper body garment may include an underarm strap positionable at the underarm region (e.g., the armpit) of the user to assist in applying additional pressure to the underarm region. The underarm strap may include a plurality of pressure applying regions (e.g., one or more cells configured to receive fluid) that are controllable to apply pressure to the underarm region. The combination of the upper body garment and the underarm strap provide a focus of pressure applied at the underarm region of the user. In one or more embodiments, the exemplary garments described herein may also include an arm garment that may be overlap with a portion of the upper body garment. The arm garment may include a plurality of arm pressure applying regions controllable to apply pressure to a plurality of portions of the arm. Therefore, the exemplary garments may be combined for a system in which pressure is applied to the body such that lymph is directed to move from a distal region of the arm to a proximal region of the arm and towards a core of the torso. One exemplary compression garment system may include an upper body garment positionable proximate an upper body of a user and a controller operably coupled to the upper body garment. The upper body garment may include a torso garment portion, a left upper arm garment portion, and a right upper arm garment portion. The upper body garment may include a plurality of pressure applying regions controllable to apply pressure to a plurality of portions of the upper body. The plurality of pressure applying regions may include a plurality of torso pressure applying regions, at least one left upper arm pressure applying region, and at least one right upper arm pressure applying region. The controller may control pressure applied by the plurality of pressure applying regions to the upper body. The plurality of torso pressure applying regions may be configured to apply pressure to a plurality of portions of a torso, the at least one left upper arm pressure applying region may be configured to apply pressure to a portion of a left upper arm, and the at least one right upper arm pressure applying region may be configured to apply pressure to a portion of a right upper arm. Another exemplary compression garment system may include an upper body garment positionable proximate an upper body of a user and a controller operably coupled to the upper body garment. The upper body garment may include a torso garment portion and at least one upper arm garment portion. The upper body garment may include a plurality of pressure applying regions controllable to apply pressure to a plurality of portions of the u