Study on interface pressure generated by a bandage using in vitro pressure measurement system

Abstract

This paper aims to identify and analyze various factors responsible for the variations in the interface pressure exerted by compression bandages during compression treatment. Some of the major factors, i.e. the applied force, the limb circumference, and the numbers of bandage layers wrapped, were chosen to analyze their impacts on the initial interface pressure and also on the interface pressure profile generated by compression bandages over time during static mode of the mannequin limb. The testing under static mode was done using a leg-segment prototype, which allows continuous online measurement of interface pressure exerted by the bandage over mannequin surface. The interface pressure variations under dynamic mode of the mannequin limb was also investigated using another dynamic leg-segment prototype which simulates the dynamic behavior of the human limb i.e. walking, jogging, running, etc. The investigation of stress relaxation and fatigue behavior of the bandage was examined to find their impacts on the bandage performance under static and dynamic conditions. The result of an N-way analysis of variance shows that the applied force and number of layers significantly affect the interface pressure drop over time. The interface pressure drop under dynamic mode is faster and higher than the static mode. The study of relaxation and fatigue behavior of the bandage helps in evaluating the bandage behavior during compression treatment.