Soft-edged ostomy bags
A more comfortable ostomy bag that will not irritate the skin from relative movement. The ostomy bag has a pair of flexible flat sheets of material bonded together at juxtaposed edges to form a seam. A soft outer edge outside of the seam is formed by extensions of the sheets that either remain disconnected so as to form loose flaps or are slit radially to form finger-like extensions, or both. The ostomy bag further has an inlet opening formed through one of the flat sheets.
1. An ostomy bag, comprising:
a pair of flexible flat sheets of liquid impermeable material bonded together at juxtaposed edges at a peripheral seam to form a pouch with an inner cavity, and a soft outer edge radially outward of the seam formed by disconnected outward extensions of the sheets that form loose flaps, the ostomy bag further having an inlet opening and stoma seal formed through one of the flat sheets and open to the inner cavity, wherein the pouch has a long dimension and a short dimension perpendicular to the long dimension, and wherein the soft outer edge has a radial dimension of between 5-15% of the short dimension.
2. The ostomy bag of claim 1 , wherein the outward extensions are continuous around a periphery of the bag.
3. The ostomy bag of claim 2 , wherein the continuous outward extensions have varying radial dimensions around the outer edge.
4. The ostomy bag of claim 2 , wherein the continuous outward extensions have scalloped configurations with varying radial dimensions around the outer edge.
5. The ostomy bag of claim 2 , wherein the continuous outward extensions are not connected to each other around the outer edge.
6. The ostomy bag of claim 1 , further including an outlet at one end of the long dimension that interrupts the peripheral seam.
7. The ostomy bag of claim 1 , further including an outlet at one end that interrupts the peripheral seam.
8. The ostomy bag of claim 7 , wherein the outward extensions have generally constant radial dimensions around the outer edge except close to the outlet where they gradually taper down in radial dimension.
9. The ostomy bag of claim 1 , wherein the liquid impermeable material is also gas-impermeable.
10. The ostomy bag of claim 1 , wherein the liquid impermeable material is selected from the group consisting of: polyethylene (PE), polyvinyl-chloride (PVC), ethylene-vinyl-acetate (EVA), plasticized poly(vinylidene chloride) (PVDC), and an oriented liquid crystal polymer (LCP).
11. An ostomy bag, comprising:
a pair of flexible flat sheets of liquid impermeable material bonded together at juxtaposed edges at a peripheral seam to form a pouch with an inner cavity, and a soft outer edge radially outward of the seam formed by disconnected outward extensions of the sheets that form loose flaps, the ostomy bag further having an inlet opening and stoma seal formed through one of the flat sheets and open to the inner cavity, wherein the outward extensions have scalloped configurations with varying radial dimensions around the outer edge.
12. An ostomy bag, comprising:
a pair of flexible flat sheets of liquid impermeable material bonded together at juxtaposed edges at a peripheral seam to form a pouch with an inner cavity, and a soft outer edge radially outward of the seam formed by outward extensions of the sheets that are slit radially to form finger-like projections, the ostomy bag further having an inlet opening and stoma seal formed through one of the flat sheets and open to the inner cavity.
13. The ostomy bag of claim 12 , wherein the soft outer edge has a continuous radial dimension around the outer edge.
14. The ostomy bag of claim 12 , wherein the soft outer edge has varying radial dimensions around the outer edge.
15. The ostomy bag of claim 14 , wherein the varying radial dimensions form a scalloped outer edge.
16. The ostomy bag of claim 12 , wherein the outward extensions are not connected to each other around the outer edge.
17. The ostomy bag of claim 12 , wherein the pouch has a long dimension and a short dimension perpendicular to the long dimension, and wherein the soft outer edge has a radial dimension of between 5-15% of the short dimension.
18. The ostomy bag of claim 12 , wherein the finger-like projections are rectangular in shape.
19. The ostomy bag of claim 12 , wherein the finger-like projections each has a rounded outer end.
20. The ostomy bag of claim 12 , further including an outlet at one end that interrupts the peripheral seam.
21. The ostomy bag of claim 20 , wherein the outward extensions have generally constant radial dimensions around the outer edge except close to the outlet where they gradually taper down in radial dimension.
22. The ostomy bag of claim 12 , wherein the liquid impermeable material is also gas-impermeable.
23. The ostomy bag of claim 12 , wherein the liquid impermeable material is selected from the group consisting of: polyethylene (PE), polyvinyl-chloride (PVC), ethylene-vinyl-acetate (EVA), plasticized poly(vinylidene chloride) (PVDC), and an oriented liquid crystal polymer (LCP).