Prevention of airborne disposal from staff in the O.R. reducing the risk of infection: what are the benefits of using clean air suits or scrub suits?

Experts in infection control are often asked about issues related to the use of scrubs and clean air suits in the operating room (OR). So, what are clean air suits and scrub suits? This article seeks to highlight the most relevant information of this products and try to define the benefits of using them for preventing airborne disposal from the surgical staff, reducing the risk of infection. No scientific data support the practice of using scrub suits as a means for preventing transmission of infection, but on the other side we have a vast amount of studies regarding the effectiveness of clean air suits. However this won´t invalidate the use of scrub suits, just validating that this type of studies has to be done for scrubs suits

The construction of an odour brand for children clothing

ISBN 978-2-7466-2858This research present the construction of an odour brand for a children clothing brand. Therefore, this study had the goal to verify the acceptance of an odour brand by children’s and based on this data´s, conceive an odour brand for this specific brand. The author’s analysed the children´s perception through inquiries to discover the adequate scent to apply on the children´s garment, having in consideration the concept of the brand. The results were based on inquiries realised in store environment. The survey was conducted in two phases, with two groups of children with ages between 7 and 10 years and another group from 11 to 14 years. These groups comprised children of both genders. The results of this research show that the garments and advertising material finished with the selected odours in the first part of this study has positive acceptation by the target audience. We also determine an odour brand for the studied brand and it was found that they have a specific odour that differentiates them from other clothing brands. Finally, we built a R & D procedure for the creation of an odour brand, applicable to any market segment that pretend to use a personalised odour

Thermo-physiological behavior of single use scrub suits using a thermal manikin

Publicação em forma de e-book. ISBN 978 605 338 084 9In operationg room, the health professionals are exposed to stress situations that can influence their physical and psychological performance. The thermal properties are an important requirement for the best performance of OR medical clothing, that plays a crucial role in thermal comfort of the user, that involve the regulation of heat and mass transfer between a clothed body and the environment. This study evaluates thermal comfort of medical clothing under specified conditions. Twelve types of non-woven single-use scrub suits were tested. The experiments were conducted on a thermal dry manikin that simulates human body to measure the heat loss from manikin surface and determine clothing thermal insulation The total clothing insulation, IT (m2.°C/W), is used to define the insulation from the skin surface to the environment. Thermal insulation of scrub suits show statisticaly significant differences between them. SS7 and SS9 have the the lower and higuer values of total isolation of 0.23 m2.°C/W and 0.14 m2.°C/W, respectively.The financial funding from QREN, POFC, Vale Inovação Project Nº 2012/24228 is also gratefully acknowledged

Comparative study of friction coefficient in nonwovens usin frictorq, fabric friction tester

Nonwovens single-use surgical gowns are used ad frequently touched by thr human skin. Interaction with human sense is therefore an important performance property. When touched by the human hand, friction is one of the the first feeling and therefore friction coeficiente is an important parameter. Recently, a patented laboratory instrument was investigated and designed at the University of Minho based on an innovative method of accessing friction coefficient of 2D surfaces (fabrics, nonwovens, soft papers). Unlikely othrer methods, frictorq is based on rotary movement and therefore on the measurement of a friction reaction torque. On the more recent version the contact between the 2D sample and the instrument contact sensors is restricted to 3 small special elements radially disposed at 120º. Providing during the test a relative displacement of approximately 90º, it is assures that a new portion of the sample is always moved under the sensors. In the model, friction coefficient is worked out from the friction reaction torque measured by means of a high sensitive torque sensors, the normal load created by the contact sensors and geometrical parameter. Contact pressure on the fabric samples was set to 3.5KPa and the linear velocity in the geometric centre of each contact element was approximately 1,5 mm/s. In the paer, a description of the instrument is given as well as it fundamentals and working principle followed by a study, where a comparison between thre different materials for manufacturing medical gows was performed under controlled atmosphere. The tested materials were materials were two spunlace nonwoven and one SMS. the results of the experimental work are analysed using various tools, including spss14.0 statistical package and discussed on the light of the importance of friction to the performance of surgical gowns. Differences in friction coefficient were detected associated to the manufacturing process, composition of the nonwoven materials and outer or inner-facees

Effects of sportswear design on thermal comfort

ISBN 978-2-7466-2858-8Several technical developments in the sportswear clothing industry resulted in the use of functional textiles for highly-specialized performances in all kind of sports. This paper reports on an experimental investigation on the effects of garment design in thermo-physiological body comfort, measured in terms of clothing insulation for a specific outdoor sport - rowing. The thermal manikins have been used to measure clothing insulation and to evaluate the thermal comfort. Thermal manikins provide a good estimate of the total dry heat loss from the body and the distribution of heat flow over the body surface. In a standard environment, these measurements can be used to describe the thermal characteristics of clothing. Testing of sportswear clothing made of different fibers and garment designs, namely by varying knitting structures, show the possibilities of influencing thermal comfort, especially thermal insulation. The evaluation and understanding of the thermal effects of garment design and fabric materials is important for the development and optimization of functional garments. Therefore, the final aim of this paper is to study and validate the thermal comfort behaviour of active sportswear for rowing using single and multiple knitted zones in the garment design and considering also differences in material composition through thermal manikin measurements

The Influence of the Sterilisation Process on certain Thermal Properties

Surgical clothing and sheets have to meet all the requirements set in the healthcare industry regarding body comfort, absorption capacity and general recognition of physiological safety and sterilisation capacity. The disposable surgical gown market is growing and demand will increase in all product groups and market sectors, where the healthcare industry is the most dynamic growth area. The aim of this study was to analyse some of the thermal properties of disposable surgical gowns before and after different sterilisation methods and therefore the influence of the sterilisation process on their thermal comfort

Integration and embedding of vital signs sensors and other devices into textiles

The development of ubiquitous vital sign monitoring has become a very up-to-date research theme for many academics and industrial companies in the last years. With new materials and integration techniques, it is possible to implement vital sign monitoring in an economic manner, directly into textile products. This unobtrusive presence of sensors is especially important for the monitoring of children or elderly people. This paper focuses on two aspects of sensor integration: Integration of off-the-shelf electronic components, and the use of the textile material itself as sensor, or in general as an electrically active element presenting some exploratory work in the integration of electronic devices into textiles. The main objective was to reproduce and improve on previous work presented by other authors, and foster possibilities of developing garments for vital sign monitoring with immediate industrial and economic feasibility. The use of standard production techniques to produce textile-based sensors, easily integrated into garments and with mass-market potential, is one of the important motivations for this work

Sensitive fabrics

Os têxteis apresentam características únicas no leque de materiais e produtos concebidos pelo homem. A sua flexibilidade, elasticidade e formabilidade permitem a sua utilização em situações em que outros materiais, rígidos, não podem ser aplicados. O ser humano veste-se com têxteis, usa têxteis na decoração do seu lar, para protecção, para aplicações técnicas, etc. A valorização do têxtil através da adição de funcionalidades normalmente só encontradas em outro tipo de produtos, nomeademente funções eléctricas ou electrónicas, tem vindo a gerar grande interesse nos últimos anos. Se por um lado a integração de electrónica em têxteis trará aos produtos electrónicos novas possibilidades (como por exemplo sensores flexíveis!), por outro vem abrir uma enorme janela de oportunidades à indústria têxil, ávida de maior valor acrescentado para os seus produtos, sinónimo de sobrevivência num mercado altamente concorrencial. No entanto, esta abordagem, por ser multidisciplinar, e pela disparidade em termos de características e propriedades dos materiais que se pretendem integrar, apresenta diversas dificuldades. Nesta apresentação pretende-se evidenciar essas dificuldades e apresentar algumas aplicações, de complexidade variável, já existentes no mercado ou nos laboratórios de investigação

Thermal analysis evaluation of mechanical properties changes promoted by gamma radiation on surgical polymeric textiles

The large number of surgical operations with pos-operative infection problems and the appearing of new infectious diseases, contribute to the development of new materials in order to answer the needs of health care services. This development must take into account the modifications promoted by sterilisation methods in materials, namely by gamma radiation. The Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Thermogravimetry (TGA) techniques show that a nonwoven and a laminate textiles maintain a good molecular cohesion, do not showing high levels of degradation, for gamma radiation dose values lower than 100 kGy in nonwoven and 200 kGy in laminate materials. The tensile strength and the elongation decrease slowly for the nonwoven textile and decrease faster for the laminate textile for 25 and 80 kGy absorbed dose. This paper shows that the DSC and TGA techniques can be helpful for the prevision of mechanical changes occurred in the materials as a consequence of the gamma irradiation

Nonwovens markets

French and Portuguese universities have been involved in an extensive study within these two countries relating a survey of the use of surgical clothing in the hospitals. National enquiries have been carried out about the use of disposable versus reusable products and concluded that private hospitals use more disposable independently of the ratio price/quality. Some results of the survey will be presented and the analysis show that a significant agreement of the consumption of these products exist in both countries