it will be appreciated that aspects , embodiments and preferred features of the invention have been described herein in a way that allows the specification to be written in a clear and concise way . however , it will be appreciated that the scope of the invention may include embodiments having combinations of all or some of the features described . unless circumstances clearly dictate otherwise , aspects , embodiments and preferred features can be variously combined or separated in accordance with the invention . in a preferred embodiment , a device in accordance with the invention comprises all aspects of the invention . the word “ about ” is taken to mean optionally plus or minus 20 %, more preferably optionally plus or minus 10 %, even more preferably optionally plus or minus 5 %, even more preferably optionally plus or minus 2 . 5 %, most preferably optionally plus or minus 1 %. within the context of this specification the word “ comprises ” is taken to mean “ includes , among other things ”. it is not intended to be construed as “ consists of only ”. within the context of this specification , the word “ substantially ” means preferably at least 90 %, more preferably 95 %, even more preferably 98 %, most preferably 99 %. details of flange extenders according to the invention for use with ostomy bags are shown in fig1 to 3 and 7 to 9 . the ostomy bags have a flange ( 1 ), a stoma hole ( 2 ) and a pouch ( 3 ). the flange extenders ( 4 ) ( 5 ) or ( 6 ) are manufactured of translucent polyurethane film ( 10 ) having a thickness of about 5 μm to about 10 μm . they adhere to the skin of an ostomate and to the flange ( 1 ) of an ostomy bag . acrylic based adhesive ( 7 ) is applied to the body facing surfaces of the flange extenders ( 4 ) ( 5 ) or ( 6 ) and an easy release liner ( 8 ) covers the adhesive ( 7 ). the easy release liner ( 8 ) can be peeled away prior to use to expose the adhesive ( 7 ). this provides the advantage of protecting the adhesive ( 7 ) until it is ready for use . the easy release liner ( 8 ) comprises a tab ( 9 ) which does not adhere to the adhesive ( 7 ). this provides the advantage that the tab ( 9 ) can be easily gripped and facilitates removal of the easy - release liner ( 8 ) to expose the adhesive ( 7 ). various release liners ( 8 ) falling within the scope of the invention are shown in fig3 and 8 . as shown in fig3 , the release liner ( 8 ) is divided into sections ( 11 ), ( 12 ) and ( 13 ) by perforations or slits ( 14 ). first and second sections ( 11 ), ( 13 ) of a release liner ( 8 ) are separated by a third second ( 12 ) of the release liner ( 8 ). advantageously , the third section ( 12 ) of the release liner ( 8 ) may be removed exposing adhesive ( 7 ), while the first and second sections ( 11 ), ( 13 ) of the release liner ( 8 ) remain in position thereby covering opposing ends of the flange extender ( 5 ). the first and second sections ( 11 ), ( 12 ) of the release liner can be removed after the exposed adhesive ( 7 ) is attached to the skin and / or flange . this facilitates easier application of the support film ( 10 ) or flange extender ( 5 ). the moisture vapour transmission rate ( mvtr ) value of the film ( 10 ) is 2444 . 1 g / m2 / 24 h . the film ( 10 ) can be produced in a multitude of geometries and dimensions to meet the needs for its intended application within ostomy and may also be tailored to a particular pouch ( 3 ) or flange ( 1 ) style . a possible flange extender ( 4 ) ( 5 ) or ( 6 ) is shown in fig7 . it has a width of about 45 mm . in one embodiment illustrated in fig9 , the flange extender ( 4 ) ( 5 ) or ( 6 ) is incorporated within the flange ( 1 ) design of an ostomy bag and is integral with the ostomy bag . in this embodiment , the flange extender ( 4 ) ( 5 ) or ( 6 ) is applied to the flange ( 1 ) of an ostomy bag and in use , a user is simply required to apply the flange extender ( 4 ) ( 5 ) or ( 6 ) to the skin . alternatively , the flange extender ( 4 ) ( 5 ) or ( 6 ) may be provided separately for use with an ostomy bag . in this embodiment , in use , a user is required to apply the flange extender ( 4 ) ( 5 ) or ( 6 ) to the skin and the flange ( 1 ) of an ostomy bag . this can be achieved by applying the flange extender ( 4 ) ( 5 ) or ( 6 ) to the skin of an ostomate first followed by attachment of the flange extender ( 4 ) ( 5 ) or ( 6 ) to the flange ( 1 ) of an ostomy bag . alternatively , the flange extender ( 4 ) ( 5 ) or ( 6 ) is attached to the flange ( 1 ) of an ostomy bag followed by attachment of the flange extender ( 4 ) ( 5 ) or ( 6 ) to the skin of an ostomate . in one embodiment , the flange extender ( 4 ) ( 5 ) or ( 6 ) is sealed in a sachet prior to use . the sachet contains two or three flange extenders . to manufacture a flange extender ( 4 ) ( 5 ) or ( 6 ), a polyurethane film ( 10 ) is provided and cut to size . acrylic adhesive ( 7 ) is applied to the film ( 10 ) and applying an easy release liner ( 8 ) having a tab ( 9 ) for easy removal of the release liner is applied to the adhesive ( 7 ). fig4 shows the results of moisture vapour permeability tests comparing a flange extender ( 4 ) ( 5 ) or ( 6 ) of the invention with other commercially available films . this graph compares mean moisture vapour loss of a flange extender film ( 10 ) according to the invention against other known pu films used as wound dressings . this comparison is therefore against similar materials but not against hydrocolloid which other flange extenders are actually based on . the moisture vapour transmission properties were determined in accordance with the european standard bs en 13726 : 2 : 2002 . for testing to bs en 13726 - 2 section 3 . 2 , in contact with water vapour , five paddington cups were assembled . 30 ml of de - ionised water was added to each cup which ensured a 5 ± 1 mm air gap at the top of the cup . the test dressings were then applied to the paddington cups ensuring that the fluid did not come into contact with the dressing . the cups were then weighed to the nearest 0 . 0001 g using a calibrated analytical balance , then placed in a temperature and humidity controlled incubator used to maintain an environment of 37 ° c .± 2 ° c . and a relative humidity level below 20 % for a period of 24 hours . at the end of the test the cups were removed from the incubator , and immediately reweighed to the nearest 0 . 0001 g using an analytical balance . from these weighings the loss in weight due to the passage of moisture vapour through the dressing was calculated . it can be seen that the flange extender of the invention has remarkably superior moisture vapour permeability . fig5 shows the results of a comparative test of load elongation . in this regard , it can be seen that a flange extender ( 4 ) ( 5 ) or ( 6 ) according to the invention had remarkably superior load elongation . this indicates that a flange extender ( 4 ) ( 5 ) or ( 6 ) according to the invention is likely to have superior comfort compared to flange extenders outside the scope of the invention . fig6 shows the results of a comparative test of thickness of known flange extenders and the thickness of a flange extender ( 4 ) ( 5 ) or ( 6 ) according to the invention . in this regard , it can be seen that a flange extender ( 4 ) ( 5 ) or ( 6 ) according to the invention had a thickness of 7 μm . in stark contrast , other commercially available flange extenders have greater thickness . known flange extenders were manufactured of hydrocolloid or pu foam and thickness was measured by the inventors . the above described embodiments have been given by way of example only , and the skilled reader will naturally appreciate that many variations could be made thereto without departing from the scope of the claims .
an ultra - thin highly conformable arc - shaped support film for a flange extender for an ostomy bag comprises a polyurethane film having an adhesive applied to at least one of a body facing surface and an ostomy bag facing surface , wherein the film has a thickness of about 5 pm to about 100 μm and exhibits a high moisture vapour transmission rate even compared to thin films used for film dressings .