Device to foster cosmetically pleasing healing of nail bed tissue

Claim 1

An article of manufacture adapted for temporary use in the manner of a splint on the digits of a person's hand or foot in order to foster beneficial healing promptly after a nail plate has been removed, comprising: (a) a generally elongated sheet of thin but substantially rigid plastic material which is generally rectangular when seen in a plan view, and said sheet being inert to body fluids and being essentially transparent, and having a curvature so that it approximates the natural shape of a human nail plate, and said sheet having a first radius which defines a curve in a longitudinal plane and a second radius which defines a curve in a transverse plane, and the transverse radius being appreciably less than the longitudinal radius, and the width of the sheet between its two sides corresponding to approximately a 70 degree segment of the circle defined by the transverse radius, and the sheet having a smooth, concave and substantially uninterrupted lower surface that is adapted for being installed so that it is in contact with and covers the nail bed, and the sheet having a proximal end that is approximately perpendicular to the sides of said sheet, whereby the proximal end of the sheet is adapted to fit under the eponychial fold of the person's digit for the purpose of preserving said fold during the healing of the nail bed; and (b) means depending from the two sides of said sheet for engaging the tissue of the person's nail bed so as to hold said tissue and inhibit it from contracting significantly during healing of said nail bed, whereby the healing nail bed is restricted to taking on the smooth shape of the juxtaposed sheet as it heals, and whereby a healed nail bed has a size that tends to be almost as large as its pre-injured size, and whereby a new nail plate will tend to be as smooth as the sheet when the nail plate progressively grows underneath the sheet and over the healing nail bed.

Claim 9

The method of fostering the smooth healing of an injured nail bed on a person's digit, comprising the steps of: (a) temporarily securing to the top surface of the injured nail bed a thin but substantially rigid structure made of artificial and sterilizable material, the structure lying in intimate contact with the tissue of the injured nail bed over nearly all of its upper surface, and the tissue-contacting surface of said structure being smooth and generally concave so that it will form an effective template to mold the healing nail bed; (b) restraining the sides of the healing nail bed in order that said nail bed does not contract as it heals; and (c) maintaining the eponychial fold of a person's digit by inserting the proximal end of said rigid structure under said fold so as to prevent it from collapsing until such time as the patient's nail plate can naturally reconstruct itself.

Claim 10

The method of fostering the smooth healing of an injured nail bed on a person's digit, comprising the steps of: (a) temporarily securing to the top surface of the injured nail bed a thin but substantially rigid structure made of artificial and sterilizable material, the structure lying in intimate contact with the tissue of the injured nail bed over nearly all of its upper surface, and the tissue-contacting surface of said structure being smooth and generally concave so that it will form an effective template to mold the healing nail bed; (b) restraining the sides of the healing nail bed in order that said nail bed does not contract as it heals; and (c) maintaining the eponychial fold of a person's digit by inserting the proximal end of said rigid structure under said fold so as to prevent it from collapsing until such time as the patient's nail plate can naturally reconstruct itself.