Functional medical textile materials

Applications of advanced technologies in the development of functional medical textile materials... 

As the basic component of medical textile materials, the structures and properties of the constituent polymers have a significant effect on the biodegradability, biocompatibility, absorbency, antimicrobial property, and other functional performances of the final medical textile products. Functional modifications of polymers have far-reaching effects on the fibers, yams, fabrics, and textile materials that are processed in a series of downstream operations. In order to generate the desired product performance characteristics for their diverse applications such as hygiene, protection, therapeutic, nonimplantable or implantable materials, extracorporeal devices, etc., the chemical and physical structures of the relevant polymers should be engineered to suit their required specifications. 

Rather than listing regulatory-approved biomaterial for implantation, we suggest to make a review of material features that have potential impact on better biological integration and good functioning of textile medical implantable devices. 

The production and utilisafion of textile materials in medical textiles started since the beginning of the civilisation. In time, the function and expectation from textile materials have expanded enormously, and they have developed and formed the final versions for present day. Nowadays, the technical textiles (smart textiles) account for a huge market due to widespread apphcations. Medical textiles are one of the fast growing sectors in technical textiles (Anand et al., 2006). The main expectations from medical textile products should be innovative and beneficial to the patients needs. Table 17.1 illustrates the application of different textile structures for use in... 

From a scientific point of view, medical textiles are located at the interfaces between technical disciplines and life sciences. On the one hand, the technical aspect concerns textile engineering, material chemistry, process control, testing and certification, etc., which are needed for the manufacture of high-quality medical textile products. On the other hand, life sciences such as medicine, microbiology, and other related subjects are required for the development of functional performances of these products. In practice, the different scientific and technical disciplines interact and overlap with one another, with new developments in any one of these branches able to generate new innovations in others. For example, new superabsorbent and gel-forming substances invented in chemistry have been applied in the development of new baby diapers and adult incontinence products. 

In order to possess the right characteristics to meet end-use requirement, fibers, yams, and textile fabrics are often treated in a number of chemical, physical, and biological processes, such as bleaching to remove impurities and dyeing to give the material appropriate color and appearance. In addition to these traditional processes, textile materials used for medical applications need to be packaged and sterilized before they can meet the functional and safety requirements of a medical product. 

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