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About Medical Textiles
- Medical textiles are manufactured a goods which includes textile stuff used in hygiene,
healthiness and private care as well as surgical end use. The Medical textiles products
are obtainable in woven, knitted and non-woven structure based on the area of application.
- Increasingly, synthetic fibre is being utilized in the manufacturing of these products.
- Depending upon the area of purpose, medical textiles are classify as under:
- Non- implantable
- Healthcare & Hygiene products
- Implantable
- Extra-corporeal
Classification of medical textile:
Raw material:
- The type of fibre used varies based on the application. The synthetic fibres are
steadily replacing natural fibres.
- However, most of products under Medical textiles (and related fibre) need
sterilization and should be non-carcinogenic and anti-allergen
in nature.
- The major fibres for medical textiles are
Natural:
- Cotton
- Silk
- Regenerated cellulose
Synthetic:
- Polyester,
- Viscose,
- Lyocell
- Polyamide
- Polyvinyl alcohol
- Polyurethane urea (PUUR)
- Polypropiolactone (PPL)
- Polycaprolactone (PCL)
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Natural Polymer:
- Biological protein
- Collagen
- Catgut
- Brenan ferulate
- Chitin
- Alginate
- Polylactic acid (PLA)
- Chitosan
- Polyglycolic acid (PGA)
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The major technical textile products covered under Medical textiles are as
given below:-
- Baby diapers
- Incontinence diapers
- Sanitary napkin
- Surgical sutures
- Disposables
- Surgical dressing
- Contact lens
- Artificial implants
- Artificial heart valve
- Artificial vascular graft
- Artificial ligaments
- Artificial skin
- Artificial tendon
- Artificial joints
- Artificial kidney
- Artificial cornea
- Artificial lever
Constituent Element of Medical Textile Product:
Desired Properties of Medical textiles
- Bio – degradable
- Purified and Hygienic
- Fast & Highly absorbent
- Wicking performance
- Barrier to percolation
- Good Insulation
- Good thermal stability
- Non toxic
- Non allergic
- Ability to be sterilized
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- Mechanical properties
- Soft feel
- Strength
- Elasticity
- Durability
- Bio-compatibility
- Excellent drape ability
- Breathability
- Static Dissipation
- Engineered Specialties
- Anti-microbial
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Limitations of Medical textiles Made of Traditional Fibres like Cotton
- Less durable in view of lower tensile and tearing strengths.
- Form lint due to protruding surface fibres which can adhere to the wounds.
- Less resistant to acids and can contain residual acids harmful to the skin.
- Do not have anti microbial properties
- Can attract mildew under hot and humid conditions prevalent in India and thus is
not the right choice for medical use.
- Residual starch left in cotton can act as a feedstock for micro-organisms which
is harmful to the skin affected by wounds.
- Attract more dust and can lead to growth of micro-organisms and other pests.
- Foreign impurities like hair, jute, color yarn, HDPE, motes, kitties, leaves, etc.
left in the finished fabric and may be harmful.
The application of medical textiles:
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Non-Implantable
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Healthcare Prod.
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Implantable
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Extra Corporeal
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- Absorbents with and without x-ray detectable
- Abdominal pad with x-Ray
- Abdominal pad without x-Ray
- Absorbent gauze
- Wadding
- Gauze Bandages
- W/W bandage
- Triangular Bandages
- POP bandages
- Synthetic cast
- Extensible Bandages
- Crepe bandages
- Elastic bandages (with rubber or lycra)
- Compression bandages
- Elastic adhesive bandages
- Cohesive bandages
- Tubular bandages
- Knitted fabric in tubular form
- Surgical hosiery
- Wound dressing bandages
- Chlorhexidine gauze dressing
- Elastic Adhesive dressing
- Framycetin gauze dressing
- Paraffin gauze dressing
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- Surgical gowns
- Surgical caps
- Surgical mask
- Surgical covers, drapes
- Cloths/Wipes
- Hospital bed sheets, pillows, pillow covers, blankets, mattresses
- Patient clothing, Protective clothing
- Burns clothing
- Operation theatre clothing
- Diapers, cover stock
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- Biodegradable and non-biodegradable sutures
- Soft tissues
- Implants
- Artificial tendon
- Artificial ligament
- Artificial skin
- Eye lenses
- Artificial lumen
- Orthopaedic implants
- Artificial joint bones
- Cardio-vascular implants
- Vascular grafts, heart valves
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- Artificial kidney - Non-woven filter (used for dialysis etc)
- Artificial liver – Made of hollow viscose fibre
- Artificial heart
- Mechanical lung – made with hollow PP fibre or a hollow silicone membrane
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF IMPORTANT MEDICAL TEXTILES
- Heart valve
- Raw material – polyester (multifilament )
- Technology
- Plain weaving
- Plain knitting
- Vascular graft
- Raw material – polyester, PTFE (multifilament )
- Technology
- Sutures
- Raw material – polyester, nylon, silk, collagen (monofilament & multifilament)
- Technology
- Braiding
- Weaving ( mainly for woven tapes)
- Joints
- Raw material – carbon, polyacetal polyethylene (multifilament)
- Technology
- Ligaments
- Raw material – polyester, PTFE, silk, polyethylene (multifilament)
- Technology- Braiding
- Artificial skin
- Raw material –chitin
- Technology- nonwoven
- Tendon
- Raw material – polyester, Kevlar (low twist filament)
- Technology- weaving (normally plain woven narrow tape)
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