Medical Textiles

Medical Textiles are the type of

technical textiles:
Offer a variety of technical &
functional properties
Have application in the field of
medical and clinical care
manufactured primarily for their
technical performance & functional
properties rather than their aesthetic
or decorative characteristics

Criterion for Medical Textiles

1. Conformance to technical specs.
2. Sterile
3. Anti Allergenic
4. Anti Bacterial
5. Environment friendly
6. Economical

Advantages of Medical
Textile

Prevention of HAI
Cross infection is reduced
Protection of care providers
Cost effective
WHO recommends disposable PPEs
Comfort level is higher e.g. gowns
Breath-ability of non-woven is better
Engineered to have high barrier to blood and other body
fluids.

Are compatible with various types of sterilization techniques

In OTs they protect the user from static electricity
Are flexible, soft and comfortable.
CONTD

Recent Advances
* Development of Polylactic acid
polyglycolic acid fibers as structures
for cell growth.
* Temporary bio-resource-able textile
supports for growing human organic
tissue
* Development of smart fibers
(Polymers/ Proteins) for treatment
of wounds & Ulcers

The use of textile materials for medical and

healthcare products can be classified into following
main areas
Barrier material (for infection control)
Bandaging & pressure garment
Wound care material
Hygiene material
Implantable material (sutures, artificial Joints etc)
Extra Corporal devices (like art. Kidney etc)

Requirements of textile material for medical

applications
Biocompatible
Good resistance to alkalis, acids and micro-organisms
Good dimensional stability
Elasticity Free from contamination or impurities
Absorption / Repellency
Air permeability

Medical Textile Products

Hollow polyester fiber, hollow viscose
Application:Artificial kidney
Function:Remove waste products from patient s
blood
Hollow viscose
Application:Artificial liver
Function:Separate and dispose of patients' plasma
and supply fresh plasma
Hollow polypropylene fiber, hollow silicone
membrane
Application:Mechanical lung
Function:Remove carbon dioxide from patients' blood
and supply fresh oxygen

Traditional applications
Include wound care products, diapers, braces, protheses
and orthoses, wipes, breathing masks, bedding and
covers, ropes and belts etc.
Innovative textile products can both add significantly to
effectiveness of medical treatments as well as patient
comfort At the same time, new medical textiles, may
contribute to cost containment.

Such innovative products:

Provide new treatment options (textile based implants
instead of scarce donor organs; artificial tissues, joints
and ligaments), Speed up recovery after medical
treatment (innovative wound dressings; light, Breathable
orthoses/ protheses) . Enhance quality of life of
chronically ill people (functional clothing).
Surgeons wear, wound dressings, bandages, artificial
ligaments, sutures, artificial liver/kidney/lungs, nappies,
sanitary towels, vascular grafts/heart valves, artificial
joints/bones, eye contact lenses and artificial cornea and
the like are some of the examples of medical
textiles.Medical textiles are textile products and
constructions for medical applications. They are used for
first aid, clinical or hygienic purposes and rehabilitation
Examples of their application include:
Protective and healthcare textiles
Dressings, bandages, pressure garments and prosthetics

Classification of Medical Textiles

Non-Implantables
Absorbents with and without ex-ray
detactable
Abdominal pad with /without x-Ray
Cotton & viscose gauze
Dressing packs
Wadding
Gauze Bandages
W/W bandage (open bandages or
gauze bandages)
Triangular & POP Bandages
Synthetic cast
Extensible Bandages
Cotton crepe bandages
Elastic bandages (with rubber or lycra)
Compression bandages
Elastic adhesive & Cohesive bandages
Tubular bandages
Knitted fabric in tubular form
Surgical hosiery
Wound dressing and medicated bandages
Chlorhexidine gauze dressing
Elastic Adhesive dressing
Framycetin gauze dressing
Paraffin gauze dressing

Healthcare
Products

Surgical gowns
Surgical caps
Surgical mask
Surgical
drapes
Wipes
Hospital bed
sheets, pillows,
pillow covers,
blankets,
mattresses
Patient clothing
(summer &
winter)
Burns clothing
Operation
theatre clothing

Implantables

Sutures
Biodegradable/
Nonbiodegradable
Bifurcated
arterial prosthetic
graft
Artificial Joints
Dialysers
Artificial Tendon
(Mesh)
Artificial Vascular
Grafts
Artificial heart
valve etc
Art. skin

Extra
Corporeal

Art. Kidney
Art. Liver /
Lungs

Fibre /Fabric/Application- Nonimplanatable

Used for external applications and may or may contact with skin
Products

Fibre Type

Fabric Structure

Absorbent pad

Cotton, viscose, lyocell

Nonwoven

Wound-contact layer

Alginate , chitosan, silk, viscose, lyocell, cotton

Woven, Nonwoven , knitted

Base material

Viscose, lyocell, plastics film

Woven, nonwoven

Simple non-elastic and

elastic bandages

Cotton, viscose, lyocell, polyamide, elastomericfibre yarns

Woven, Nonwoven , knitted

High-support bandages

Cotton, viscose, lyocell, elastomeric-fibre yarns

Woven, Nonwoven , knitted

Compression bandages

Cotton, viscose, lyocell, elastomeric-fibre yarns

Woven, knitted

Orthopaedic bandages

Cotton, viscose, lyocell, polyester fibre,

polypropylene fibre, polyurethane foam

Woven, nonwoven

Plasters

Cotton, viscose, plastics film, polyester fibre,

glass fibre, polypropylene fibre

Woven, Nonwoven , knitted

Gauze dressing

Cotton, viscose, lyocell, alginate fibre, chitosan

Woven, Nonwoven , knitted

Lint

Cotton

Woven

Wadding

Viscose, cotton linters, wood pulp

Nonwoven

Scaffold

Polyactide fibre, polyglycolide fibre, carbon

Spunlaid, needle-punched
nonwoven

Fibre /Fabric/Application- Healthcare/Hygiene

Used either in the operation theatre or in the hospital wards for hygiene, care and
safety of the staff and patients
Product

Fibre Type

Fabric Structure

Surgical gowns

Cotton, polyester, polypropylene

Woven , nonwoven

Surgical caps

Viscose, PP, polyester

Nonwoven

Surgical masks

Viscose, polyester, glass fibre

Nonwoven

Surgical drapes, cloths

Cotton, polyester, polypropylene

Woven, Nonwoven

Surgical hosiery

Cotton, polyester, polyamide fibre,

elastomeric-fibre yarns

Knitted

Blankets

Cotton, polyester

Woven, Knitted

Sheets, pillowcases

Cotton, Poly cotton, Poly viscose

Woven

Uniforms

Cotton, poly Cotton, Poly viscose

Woven

Proactive clothing, incontinence,

diaper/sheet, coverstock

Polyester, polypropylene

Nonwoven

Absorbent layer

Super-absorbent polymers, wood pulp

Nonwoven

Outer layer

PE films

Nonwoven

Cloths/wipes

Viscose, lyocell with polyester blend

Nonwoven

Fibre /Fabric/Application- Implantable

Used in effecting repair to the body whether it is wound closure (sutures) or
replacements Surgery like vascular grafts, artificial ligaments
Products

Fibre Type

Fabric Structure

Biodegradable sutures

Collagen, catgut, polyglycolide fibre,

polylactide fibre

Monofilament,
braided

Non-biodegradable sutures

Polyester fibre, polyamide fibre, PTFE fibre,

polypropylene fibre

Monofilament
braided

Artificial tendon

PTFE fibre, polyester fibre, silk, collagen,

polyethylene fibre, polyamide fibre

Woven braided

Artificial ligament

Polyester fibre, carbon fibre, collagen

Braided

Artificial cartilage

Low-density polyethylene

Artificial skin

Chitin, Silicon, collagen

Eye contact lenses and artificial

cornea

Poly (methyl methacrylate) fibre, silicon fibre,

collagen

Artificial joints/bones

Silicone, Carbon

Vascular grafts

PTFE fibre, polyester fibre

Woven, knitted

Heart valves

Polyester fibre

Woven, knitted

Nonwoven

Sutures
Collagen threads of high yardage were manufactured by two
different techniques being wet spinning of collagen dispersions
and melt spinning of thermoplastic collagen.
Catgut was the stapleabsorbable suturematerial through the
1930s,
physicians used silk and cotton where a non-absorbable material
was needed. Suture technology advanced with the creation
ofnylon, polyester around the same time.
Surgeons began using an atraumatic needle, which was pressed or
crimped onto the suture.
chemists developed new synthetic materials that could be
absorbed by the body. These were polyglycolic acid and polylactic
acid.
Previously, absorbable sutures had to be made from the natural
material catgut. Poly propylene sutures

Fibre /Fabric/Application- Extracorporeal

Used as mechanical organs that for blood purification and include artificial
kidney, the artificial liver and the mechanical lung

Product

Fibre Type

Function

Artificial kidney

Hollow polyester fibre, hollow

viscose

Remove waste products

from patients blood.

Artificial liver

Hollow viscose

Separate and dispose of

patients plasma and
supply fresh plasma

Mechanical lung

Hollow polypropylene fibre, hollow

silicone membrane

Remove carbon dioxide

from patients blood and
supply fresh oxygen

Uniqueness of Fibres used in Medical Textiles

Pure and Hygienic
Bio degradable

Good thermal stability

Soft feel

Fast & High absorbency

Excellent Wicking performance
Barrier to percolation
Good Insulation
High Strength

Excellent drape ability

Breathability
Static Dissipation
Engineered Specialties
- Anti-bacterial properties

Low Lint

- Medicinal clothings

Alginate fibre
The alginic acid is a natural polysaccharide which withdraws from the
brown alga
The sea alginate can usually be used as frozen mastic or thickening agent
in food industry, textile industry and pharmaceutical industry.
New use of alginic acid is used as wound bandage or paste .
The alginate fiber has the unique ionic exchange performance which may
interact with the wound percolate and form the moist gelatin, in such way,
the wound can be cured and the bandage can be removed easily, the
bandage which has higher content of alginate fiber can be washed by heat
salt fluid or removed all, and the newly recovered frail organization of the
wound surface cant be affected, hence, it becomes one of the ideal
wound wrap article.
Chitin fibre
widely exists in crustacean animals such as shrimp, crab .
Shrimp, crab chitin powder toluene sulfonic acids isopropyl alcohol
solution LiCl3 dimethyl acetamide wet spinning dry spinning chitin
fiber .
Because of the strong reactivity, non-toxic property, tasteless, anti-alkali,
anti-corrosive, biodegradation, good biological activity, biological
compatibility, binding property, softness, antibacterial and scur removal
property and so on, the chitin fiber can be used as the suture line, the

Chitosan fiber
Chitosan is the deacetylation derivatives of chi-tin.
because of the primary amino in chitosan, so the reactivity and dissolved
performance are better than chitin, and also be regard as the most
important and widely used derivatives.
strong reactivity, non-toxic property, tasteless, anti-alkali, anti-corrosive,
biodegradation, good biological activity, biological compatibility, binding
property, softness, antibacterial property and so on, so it arouses great
interest.

polylactic acid fiber

Because petroleum isnt used in polylactic acid, and the
abandoned garbage can degrade easily in human body,
soil, and sea water, so the earth environment cant be
polluted, its a kind of new synthetic earthfriendly fiber
.
Such kind of fiber can widely used in medical suture line,
implantation material of surgical operation, artificial
blood vessel, disposable product like diaper, woman
sanitary napkin. The technical process is as follows:

biomacromolecule material
The biomacromolecule material, which has developed in recent 20 years,
the biomacromolecule material is a kind of inner cell polyester
which synthesis by many microorganism, also a kind of natural biopolymer material.
This kind of polymer is formed by the fruitful resources of wild grass
fermentation in mid-west America. Generally adding during the
processing can make the biological polyester.
strength of suture line that is made by the material is higher or lower,
the elasticity or the inelasticity are the best,
Besides, the application of PHA in fiber area makes the
suture line can dissolve in a short time, at the same time, it can be
used as human body or structure such as pancreas or heart.
Because of the
good biocompatibility, biodegradability and plastic heat
processing performance, therefore, it has become the hot research
point of biological materials in recent years.

Modified Lyocell textile fiber

The new solvent spinning cellulosic fiber Lyocell is developed by Englands
Courtaulds company, Austrias Lenzing company, Germanys Akzo company
and so on,
preparation
alkalize, etiolution and ripening procedure isnt necessary,
the solvent is untoxic, the technical process is closed, the recycled solvent
ratio reaches above 99.5%,
Product process is environment
protective.
comfortability,
water absorbability,
softness, biodegradation,
relative high wet and dry strength,
washing fastness,
low shrinkage ratio, fiber can undergo chemical process in different wet and
dry state, also normal dyeing and print.
Directly dissolved cellulose technique is generally adopted to produce Lyocell,
the principle is that dissolve the cellulose in ringshaped tertiary amine
oxide N methylmorpholineNoxide and water mixture under certain
circumstance. In the technique, the good pretreatment PPTA mix with
NMMNO and water in the continuous mixer, and the cellulose is dissolved into
viscous solvent, filter the solvent then spinning, the cellulose is out in solid
silkshape, the diluted NMMNO solvent can be recycled and can realize
easily,99.5% of the solvent can be recycled

Superld medical fiber

Superld medical fiber is made through advanced composites
manufacturing technology by America Dupont nonwoven
material company, a special double component recipe is taken to
make the new product. The new product can be used to make
garment, protect medical care personnel, also the product has
comfortability.
first medical product which has high protective and
softness properties. Supreld is a kind of nonwoven product
which is made by polyester and polypropylene,
supreld has the properties of polyester and
polypropylene.
Besides, the surface friction is lower than the other
medical material, so the wearer can feel more comfortable
and can move easier.

Blood
vessel
textile
implant

Improved hearing
with help of
nanofibre

Auxetic structure

Thank you