Cymed

Description

by Dianne Eastman, founder and CEO The motivating factor to develop the MicroSkin product line was finding myself in the position of needing to wear a urostomy appliance. The existing pouches in 1982 seemed to belong to the dinosaur age. I was amazed that the ostomy pouch manufacturers did not provide an appliance that was more user friendly. I tried every product available on the U. S. and foreign markets. They were all similar in that they were bulky, unyielding, and they frequently leaked, all of which caused skin breakdown. When I bathed, showered, used the hot tub or went swimming, I had to use extra tape, cover the pouch and always ended up changing the pouch after any water activity. If I participated in sports activities causing sweating, the pouches simply lost their seal and pulled away from my skin. The pouches were always conspicuous under my swimwear. With every new system I tried the results were always the same: frustration. I needed a system that would offer security, comfort, and freedom from skin breakdown. I needed freedom of movement to participate in any activity, be it wet or dry, without being aware that I was wearing an osotmy appliance. I did not want to carry a bag full of tapes, belts, pastes, glues, wipes and an extra set of dry clothing just to step outside my home.Since my background is in the field of microbiology, cytology and dermatology, I concluded that the primary problem with the existing products I had tried was the skin attachment. Their mechanism was either a paper tape attached to a wax-like material or sticky material that was attached to a very rigid ring. These products melted and were stiff and unforgiving. The two-piece products popped off when one would bend or stretch. Some of the products caused severe skin irritation. None of the products I tried gave me a sense of security and comfort. All of this combined with the bulky profile of many of the products forced me into action. I had to find a material that would closely replicate human skin. This dream material would have to breathe and stretch as much or more than human skin. It would have to be thin, flexible, and water repellent while being impervious to fluids excreted from the stoma. It would have to be clear in order to observe the health of the peristomal skin. The adhesive of this material would have to be compatible to the moisture vapor permeable feature of the film I was envisioning. I wanted to get rid of all the extra accessories that went along with the existing products. My vision was a thin film that one could simply peel and stick over the stoma without having to apply layers of pastes, glues, or a belt. The fantasy of replacing the existing ostomy pouching systems would not leave me alone.The dogged search for the ideal material began with the purchase of every brand of ostomy product on the market. All of these products were a variation on a theme. Without brand names or logos on the products, I could not differentiate one product from another. I was more determined than ever to improve the state of ostomy appliances. Soon the quest became an arduous task that required finding and testing numerous materials, mortgaging my home for capital to start the patent process, designing and manufacturing clinical trial products, and obtaining FDA equivalency in order to market my potential ostomy appliance, while still working full time as a cytologist. I could see the dream becoming a reality, and I was not so far removed from surgery that I couldn’t remember how those first ostomy appliances felt and functioned.

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