Full-fashion stump shrinker for the residual limb of a human amputee

Claim 1

A stump shrinker for applying comfortable therapeutic compression of at least 10 to 30 millimeters of mercury at 50% stretch of the shrinker to the residual limb of a human amputee comprising: an elongated, one-piece, soft, pliable fabric receptacle having a pair of flaccid sidewalls initially collapsed flatly against one another prior to donning of the shrinker by the amputee, said sidewalls being integrally interconnected along their opposite, longitudinal extremities so as to define an internal, stump-receiving socket which changes from a flattened condition before use to a condition conforming to the shape of the stump when the shrinker is worn by the amputee, said receptacle further having a normally open upper end through which the stump is inserted into the socket when the shrinker is donned by the amputee and a closed, seamless, normally lower toe disposed to engage and bear against the distal end of the stump when the shrinker is in place on the stump, said receptacle tapering toward a minimum transverse dimension as said toe is approached and being of full-fashion, knit construction whereby to provide said tapered configuration without seams along the longitudinal extremities of the sidewalls, said fabric being formed by resilient yarn of constant density throughout the shrinker and having such resilience that the shrinker exerts compression of at least 10 to 30 milimeters of mercury at 50% stretch of the fabric, said yarn being knitted in connected loops of substantially uniform pattern and number per square inch throughout the receptacle, whereby the shrinker exhibits generally uniform compression against the residual limb of the wearer over a wide range of stretch as the limb changes in diameter due to swelling and contraction.