Why use nonwovens in medical and healthcare?
Nonwovens are extensively used in the medical field and in protection against biological agents in other sectors. They deliver critical safety properties, such as prevention against infections and diseases. With today’s multi-drug resistant strains of bacteria and virus, nonwovens can help in the fight against cross-contamination and the spread of infection in a medical or surgical environment. Because they are used only once and incinerated after use, the need for handling is avoided and the spread of contaminants is minimised.
The different uses are:
- Surgical: single-use caps, gowns, face masks, scrub suits shoe covers, head covers
- Drapes, wraps and packs
- Sponges, dressings and wipes
- Bed linen
- Contamination control gowns
- Examination gowns
- Lab coats
- Tissue scaffolding
- Isolation gowns
- Trans-dermal drug delivery
- Shrouds
- Underpads
- Procedure packs
- Heat packs
- Ostomy bag liners
- Fixation tapes
- Incubator mattress
- Sterilisation wraps (CSR wrap)
- Wound care
- Cold/heat packs
- Drug delivery (patches etc.)
For example:
Nonwovens are also increasingly a major component in the design of "smart" wound care products, providing such functions as the creation of a moist wound healing environment, with controlled vapour transmission, absorbency and low skin adhesion.
Most recent nonwovens innovations include the design of new scaffolds for 3D biological tissue engineering, implantable fabrics that can reinforce natural tissues, and nanofiber nonwovens filtration media offering enhanced particle capture properties.
New nonwovens materials with improved finishes including liquid repellent, virus proof and bacterial barrier properties have also been developed for applications such as surgical masks, gowns and drapes.
The advantages of using nonwovens in medical and healthcare
- Protection against
- dry or wet contact
- air-borne particles
- Fully compliant with EU standard EN 13795
- Single-use = 100% certainty
- Custom-made for the operating theatre
- procedure-specific design
- optimum wearer comfort
- strong yet light in weight
- optimal fluid absorbency
- exchange of air, body heat and moisture
- Excellent barrier properties
- Excellent uniformity
- Breathability
- Abrasion resistance and lint free
- Repellent
- Self-adherent edges
- Aseptic folding
- Engineered stability for ETO, plasma, radiation, or steam sterilisation
Some interesting articles on medical and healthcare
Nonwovens getting under your skin
The performance of nonwovens in medical applications – both as the basis for advanced wound care products and in protective gowns, drapes and sterilisation packs – is well known, but they also have a number of advantages in surgical procedures for cell integration and tissue regeneration, as well as in the controlled delivery of a broad range of beneficial drugs and substances.
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A patch for everything
Sensor-containing products as are the next wave of medical and healthcare disposables, and continue to be introduced at an alarming rate – as do new university spin-off companies formed to launch them.
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The decade of the sensor
What are nonwovens-based hygiene and medical disposables likely to be able to do next?
Quite a lot, if the fast-growing wearable technology industry has anything to do with it!
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Incredible tales of nonwovens: creating a revolutionary blood-filtering technology
A game-changer for the blood transfusion industry worldwide – a new filtration technology which can successfully remove antibodies from donated blood.
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