According to a new market research report by SmithersPira Corporation, 2024: The Future of Global Nonwovens, surgical burgers and surgical gowns, including other surgical kit components, account for 67% of all medical nonwovens market by value and tonnage. In North America, these disposable nonwoven products account for 90% of all surgical hole towels and 95% of all surgical gowns.
"If you compare disposable nonwovens with traditional reusable materials for hole towels and surgical gowns, we find that the benefits of nonwovens are obvious," said JohannaS from Suominen, a Finnish nonwovens manufacturer. Although reusable materials have been further developed, research shows that the market still prefers disposable hole towels and surgical gowns because they have stronger, more reliable and repeatable bacterial impermeability. If reusable surgical gowns are used, these properties are affected by wetting or repeated washing. Moreover, disposable materials are easy to use, can be safely disposed of, and are also an economical solution."
According to SmithersPira research, face masks made of nonwovens are also expected to grow as fears of infectious diseases such as SARS or H1N1 bird flu grow. By 2019, the value of global medical nonwovens will reach $1.28 billion and will continue to grow at a rate of 4.6 per cent per year, reaching a market size of $1.61 billion by 2024.
In the medical market, another growth area for nonwovens is wipes.
Global medical manufacturer Medline recently entered the CHG (chlorhexidine gluconate) fabric market with its new FDA-approved ReadyPrepCHG. These products are used to prepare the patient's skin before surgery and are pre-impregnated with 2% CHG for sterilization. CHG is known for its ability to remove infection-causing bacteria from the skin and can help reduce the risk of surgical site infection (SSI).
"There are approximately 16 to 300000 cases of SSI in the United States each year, at an associated cost of $34,407 per treatment," said AlanaCecola, MedlineIndustriesReadycare's director of product management. "As one of the leaders in healthcare manufacturing and distribution, Medline want to provide them with options that provide a sustainable, safe and effective microbicide to reduce the risks associated with SSI."
Cecola said that Medline also produce a variety of pre-moistened personal cleansing wipes based on spunlace and needling. This is a more hygienic and standardized method, which can provide better skin care than traditional cleaning methods. And patient experience. "The solution of using pre-moistened personal cleansing wipes is cost-effective in medical institutions."
According to Cecola, there has been a steady increase in personal cleansing wipes in the United States. "Other regions are developing at a slower pace, but there is evidence that other markets will grow in the next five to ten years."
Safety first research shows that the advantage of non-woven fabrics is that compared with reusable materials, non-woven products can reduce the chance of infection and reduce the risk of cross-contamination.
For decades, Ahlstrom-Munksjö has been developing medical non-woven fabrics for use in surgical gowns, protective clothing, sterile wraps, hole towels, face masks and coveralls.
Depending on the level of liquid protection required, the company offers a range of products, such as SMS, to achieve basic performance or to add additional attributes such as antistatic and alcohol resistance. "SMS is a multi-layer non-woven fabric. The top and bottom layers are spunbonded polypropylene, which can improve strength, and the middle layer is meltblown polypropylene, which can be used for filtration." Ahlstrom-Munksjö Global Market Development Manager MelanieBurakouski explains.
In order to protect against viruses, bacteria and liquids, Ahlstrom-Munksjö provides a breathable virus barrier (BVB) fabric, which is a three-layer laminate material consisting of outer and inner spunmelt materials and a breathable integral film layer.
Last fall, the company launched a new generation of BVB surgical fabric ViroSel, which is used in the most critical areas of surgical gowns, designed to keep medical professionals safe and comfortable. Burakouski said: "We have used our decades of experience to create a fabric that can reliably manufacture the most protective and comfortable surgical gowns on the market."
The structure of the fabric makes it impermeable, breathable and comfortable. The outer layer is waterproof and durable. The barrier layer is integrally coated to protect it from liquids, viruses and bacteria. The structure of the membrane itself allows water vapor to pass through, keeping surgical personnel cool and dry. The darker inner layer is designed to reduce shadows, and make it soft and comfortable to wear, and can be used for a long time.
She explained: "Procedures such as C- sections, stomach and heart often present large amounts of fluid and take a long time to complete. This means that protection and comfort are essential for medical personnel wearing surgical gowns. Infection control is necessary because patients and staff may be exposed to these fluids. International industry standards are used to test and measure the barrier properties of barrier layers against liquid and blood borne pathogens, and they can be used in protective clothing, such as surgical gowns. ViroSel have passed these stringent standards to provide the impervious protection required in a surgical environment."
Suominen also offers a range of technologies for the medical market. Webril is a special 100% cotton spunlace nonwoven designed for medical applications that require high absorbency and tear resistance. These properties provide superior performance for medical pads and wound care applications. This technology meets the needs of clinicians for sustainable options in the medical market.
The company also produces patented Novonette thermally bonded nonwovens. It is made of a large number of natural fibers, with high absorption, rapid fluid release characteristics, softness and drape. It incorporates super-absorbent fibers in thermally bonded materials for applications that require additional absorbent capacity.
As one of the global leaders in spunlace technology, Suominen's latest wet production line in South Carolina, USA, also uses a variety of raw materials to provide unique solutions for the medical market.
From one technology to another, the functions and characteristics of medical nonwovens are very different. Suominen FibrellaZorb material has excellent properties and can be used in the window opening area of the hole towel: her absorption capacity is twice that of the competitor's spunbond product. This can reduce post-operative cleaning time. It is also easy to drape and fit, which is a great advantage compared to airlaid technology.
At the same time, Suominen FibrellaPerf product line is specially developed for wound care products. The product has excellent softness, skin-friendliness and absorbency. This series was also introduced to the South American market. "In Latin America, we have invested in our factory in Brazil because we have seen strong growth," says Síren. "This investment allows us to supply medical products through this factory and to replace more traditional textiles and open up more new applications."
Wound Healing
Codberg Performance Materials has been developing nonwovens and polyurethane foams for the medical and wound care industries for more than three decades. It has developed many products for traditional and advanced wound care, bioactive wound care, ostomy and transdermal applications. In the medical field, the company uses dry-laid, spunlaid, wet and foam as basic technologies, and combines a variety of coating and finishing technologies. "This enables Codberg High Performance Materials to tailor products to customer needs."
Dr. FrankHeislitz, Chief Executive Officer of Freudenberg Performance Materials, said. Freudenberg Performance Materials has recently introduced several innovations. These include multi-layer foam nonwovens containing superabsorbent nonwovens. By combining a hydrophilic polyurethane foam and a hydrophilic nonwoven for a wound dressing, the absorption and water retention properties are greatly improved. "There was an optimal ratio between all the components," Dr Heislitz said."
Cordberg provides customers with hydrophilic polyurethane foams based on MDI and TDI, and produces these high-performance multilayer materials that meet ISO13485 standards in clean rooms.
Freudenberg has also developed more efficient polyurethane foams. Thanks to the newly developed MDI polyurethane high-performance formulation, Cordborg offers an excellent alternative to traditional TDI polyurethane foam. This new MDI polyurethane foam for wound dressings for chronic varicose ulcers absorbs wound fluid in just a few seconds. It also has approximately 50% higher liquid retention capacity than TDI foam and has higher strength in the wet state.
Dr. Heislitz explained: "Codberg Performance Materials is focused on developing medical solutions that improve medical outcomes. We see opportunities for multi-layer solutions that reduce overall care costs, such as better repair performance, reduced product complexity for customers, and simplified supply chains."
Made in Turkey
Mogul, a Turkish nonwovens producer, also has a customer base for many medical nonwovens, thanks to the various production technologies used by the company. Today, it offers polypropylene SMS nonwovens for medical/surgical gowns, polypropylene spunbond and meltblown nonwovens for face masks, Aqualace for surgical swabs (parallel-laid spunlace), Mopet(100% polyester spunbond) for blood filtration and Madaline(PET/PA6 microfilaments) for medical packaging and medical clothing of various specifications. Among them, Madaline itself has 94.5 percent bacterial filtration efficiency and anti-allergic properties. Finally, its Durell spunlace can be used for medical tapes and bandages.
Mogul CEO SerkanGogus said: "Nonwovens are cost-effective as disposable products. They have disposable properties, help prevent cross-contamination, and have some barrier properties that textiles cannot achieve."
The company expects to see market growth, especially in higher-revenue developing regions around the world. In these areas, more disposable products will be used to replace traditional textiles, while in developed areas, disposable products will help prevent hospital infections.
Turkey's FelixNonwovens produces spunbonded nonwovens, films and laminated nonwovens, mainly serving the hygiene and medical industries. Its main products are polypropylene spunbonded nonwovens for hydrophobic surgical gowns or hydrophilic hole towel laminates. The company's cast film is made of polyethylene or polypropylene, which can completely barrier bacteria and viruses and maintain air permeability. These nonwoven materials are combined with a barrier, breathable cast film to form a laminate.
Felix recently invested in a new hot-melt lamination system that can increase the production capacity of its SFS breathable barrier layer AAIM Grade 3 and Grade 4 surgical gown materials and AAIM Grade 4 hydrophilic surgical hole towel materials.
With vertical integration with medical textile processing equipment, Felix also offers semi-finished or finished surgical gowns, burrows and medical kits. "This allows us to be more flexible in meeting the needs of our customers and partners. We can provide OBL, private label services and will continue to provide high-quality materials to the market, which is our main business." Felix's AliSerdarSerteser said.
This article is from Nonwovens Industry Journal
