Internal pressure profiling of medical bandages

The present paper reports the characteristics of internal pressure exerted by bandages, measured over a period of time for a special class of bandages called compression bandages. The basic idea of this work is to explore the possibility of structural changes in these bandages to improve the compression characteristics of these bandages and provide a very accurate method of measurement of pressure applied by these bandages. The effects of variables, namely fabric construction, hardness of surface below the bandage (i.e. simulation of the wide range of human physical structures), bandage width and style of wrapping (i.e. the overlap and the direction of wrapping, from the knee towards the ankle and vice versa), have been studied by using a prototype designed and developed based on pneumatic principle. Based on the results, certain characteristics have been recommended for choosing the ideal bandages and wrapping styles.