The use of non-woven fabric in the medical arena goes back to the time of the Second World War when the need for new and large volumes of medical products had arisen. In several reports published, nonwovens were regarded as the most effective accoutrements for bacterial walls. They were also plant superior to linens in the reduction of air- borne impurity.
After significant development of non-woven fabric, they were designed in a way to suit the medical requirements and give a performance much better than their woven counterparts in terms of cost, effectiveness, disability etc. In hospitals,cross-contamination is always one of the biggest problems which were attributed largely tore-using of woven gowns, masks, and other analogous papers which would get defiled and potentially spread the origins. The arrival of nonwovens eased the development of a further cost-effective volition that was disposable and reduced the problem ofcross-contamination greatly.
Why non-woven fabric for Medical Products?
non-woven fabric are known for delivering superior performance in technical tasks because they can be designed the way an operation needs them to be. The parcels which make non-woven fabric the stylish choice for medical products are
Excellent hedge parcels
Superior effectiveness
More performance ( comfort, consistence, weight, water vapor transmission, air permeability,etc.)
Increased protection for the stoner (better physical parcels like tensile, tear resistance, bruise resistance,etc.)
Lower eventuality forcross-contamination
Crack care was and still is the primary use for medical and surgical non-woven fabric. Nonwovens find operations in a variety of productsviz. spongy pads, incontinence products, vesture for cases and staff. Baby diapers, bed linen, and robes burn dressings, gowns, disposable undergarments, dressings, medicine delivery bias, face masks, sludge media, nasal strips, pillows, shoe covers, bloodsuckers, sutures, towel pulpits, apkins, wraps, etc. These products are effectively employed in use in ambulances, discussion lounges, ICUs, laboratories, operating apartments, wards, etc.
The material used in medical non-woven fabric- Filaments
The filaments used in medical non-woven fabriccan be classified into natural and synthetic orders. The natural filaments used are wood pulp, cotton, and rayon. Wood pulp is used for its egregious absorbency, bulk, and low cost. Cotton and rayon are good to be used directly on injuries. They've good absorbency and make excellent non-woven fabric.
The reasons natural filaments make excellent medical non-woven fabric
They're largely spongy of exudate and blood
Excellent breathability
Good aesthetic characteristics
Easy launderability and can be castrated
Excellent dimensional stability and high operability temperature ~ 175 deg C
Biodegradable
Excellent drape and conformability
Good heat resistance
Excellent water retaining capacity
Nonallergenic and nonirritant filaments
The synthetic filaments substantially used in this operation are polypropylene for its excellent rheological characteristics, hydrophobicity which is asked in some systems where hedge parcels are needed, low cost, bicomponent filaments which are extensively used in thermal cling and added functionality and polyester when strength, mechanical parcels and ease of sterilization are of high significance. Synthetic filaments also regard for the products strength, solvent resistance, static dispersion and numerous other desirable parcels.
The parcels of synthetic filaments which are needed in numerous operations
Hydrophobicity to be suitable to act as a hedge fabric
Easy to reuse
Cost- effectiveness
Manufacturing Processes for Medical non-woven fabric
Web Conformation The most popular ways for medical non-woven fabric are spunbonding, meltblowing and their mixes (SMS) in specific end uses. Spunbonding is used when further strong webs are demanded. Spunbonded webs are strong in both machine direction (MD) and cross direction (CD). They're soft, pervious and dimensionally stable. Spunbonding is substantially used for products like face masks, head wears, shoe covers, bed linens and disposable apparel etc. Sot laying, wet laying and registering are used for different web parcels depending on web consistence needed, speed of relating fashion to be used etc. Carding is acclimated for featherlight web product for specialized and aseptic products. Carding produces veritably high quality webs at veritably high pets.
Cling is carried out by numerous styles including thermal cling for synthetic filaments and their composites. Hydroentangling as the fastest growing relating fashion is used explicitly in medical non-woven fabric for that cloth-suchlike hand and feel that is desirable in products like hazes, dressings, sanitarium vesture etc.
Needlepunching finds operation in relating colorful filaments or webs of medium consistence. Needlepunching is presto, effective and frequently chosen fashion for varied operations. It's also cost effective. Piecemeal from all these ways, stitchbonding is also used. Chemical cling is frequently used for making elastic non-woven fabric.
Processes for Natural filaments for cotton and rayon, web may be formed by air laying/ wet laying or registering. The natural filaments are frequently hydroentangled to give them most fabric-suchlike parcels. While the end product attained is excellent in parcels, it's rendered precious as compared to synthetic filaments. Cotton is most frequently mercerized and blanched to enhance its chastity for a better acceptance in medical and hygiene areas. Cotton also poses difficulties in processing because of its high dust situations. Natural filaments find stylish operations in products like surgical gowns, hearties and drapes, reek, disposable apparel, tapes, crack dressings etc. Cotton processing may include cling ways like resin cling (for backing accoutrements), thermal cling of polyolefins cotton composites and hydroentangling for largely spongy products.
Processes for Synthetic Filaments Synthetic filaments are most frequently blended with cotton/ rayon. They're spunbonded and also clicked by any suitable cling fashion. Synthetic filaments may also be meltblown. For operations like pollutants, face masks etc, meltblown webs are preferred because of the small fiber compasses and excellent filtration edge.
While synthetic filaments can be clicked by any fashion effectively, it's substantially determined by their end use.
Post Processes
Post process for medical non-woven fabric is to give the product a suitable finish for its specific end use. The different types of homestretches used in medical non-woven fabric are
Soil Release Agents for bed linens, gowns and vesture which are designed for multiple exercises. May also be used on curtains, robesetc.
Mufflers to make the webs feel soft against the skin. May be used for disposable undergarments, pillows, bed wastes etc.
Water repellents used for bed wastes for kiddies, hedge vestureetc.
Flame Retardant Finishes used for bed linens, curtains, vesture, lab fleecesetc.
Antibacterial Finish veritably generally applied to hazes, dressings and sutures. The most popular bone is gray nanocrystal finish.
Resin and Hand Builders used for vesture, gowns, bed linens etc.
Conclusion
Medical cloth request is completely impregnated with nonwoven products moment. non-woven fabric , because of their fluently adjustable parcels and excellent performance have come necessary in this field. Medical and Hygiene sectors combined together consume further than 90 of the total nonwoven product in US ( Source INDA). On the other hand, in developing countries of Asia, Africa and South America, demand for medical nonwoven is adding significantly as a result of a fast-growing, decreasingly citified, youthful, health-conscious population. In future, the demand of non-woven fabricin medical field is anticipated to grow steadily.
