News

May 27, 2008

Reducing external pressure has long been the focus of etiological research on the prevention of skin breakdown, yet medical literature continues to reveal the important role of shear and friction in the development of skin breakdown.

With the understanding that shear and friction on human skin depend on interactions with the external support surfaces and the outside environment, researchers at SAM Medical had one goal: engineer a product that dissipates or eliminates shear and friction at the source, thereby minimizing trauma, pain and skin breakdown. SAM Medical Products® has developed a product called BursaMed™ for the prevention and treatment of soft tissue trauma. Best used as an occlusive prophylactic bandage, BursaMed is specifically designed to protect against erythema, diabetic ulcers, reulceration and blisters by reducing shear and friction forces.

When a force is applied to the skin, the central dome collapses and produces a gliding movement, effectively redirecting the pressure vector away from the area protected. The bandage features an extremely thin profile (2 mil thick or 0.002 inches), which conforms to complex anatomical areas such as the toes using a medical grade adhesive.

Similar products are thicker and thus increase the interface pressure between the outlying surface and the adjacent skin surface. Composed of two bonded layers of low-friction polyethylene breathable plastic film with adjacent perforations to vent heat and moisture, BursaMed™ is uniquely designed for gross movement and is best used as a prophylactic bandage.

Research data from a National Institutes of Health study (Funded by the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services. Grant #1R43HD044376-01) reveals that BursaMed™ is effective in significantly reducing the coefficient of friction on able-bodied subjects. In addition, a laboratory study demonstrated the lowest coefficient of friction compared with commonly used products for skin protection. This research has been accepted for publication in Wilderness and Environmental Medicine Journal.

For more information:
Call: 1-800-818-4726
www.bursameddressing.com