Elastomers: Dressed for surgical success
DSM explains how its elastomer is being put to use in medical gowns to protect against hospital-acquired infections
The importance of gowns for medical staff and patients cannot be overestimated. These garments offer the first line of defence against bacterial and viral infections.
And the data about so-called hospital-acquired infections, or HAIs, is truly staggering. Research shows that 1 in 10 hospitalised patients will acquire an infection after admission.
The US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), for example, stated recently that there were an estimated 722,000 HAIs in US acute-care hospitals in 2011 (the most recent year for which data are available). About 75,000 hospital patients with HAIs died during their hospitalisations. And more than half of all HAIs occurred outside of the intensive care unit.
Similarly, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reported an average prevalence of 7.1% of HAIs in European countries and estimated that more than 4.1 million patients are affected every year in Europe.
In short, hospital-acquired infections put patients and hospital staff at risk and cause major additional healthcare expenditures.
That’s why infection control is a key topic. Hospital administrators increasingly appreciate just how important medical clothing can be in preventing infection. Surgical gowns can offer important protection – provided they have the necessary barrier properties.
Netherlands-based Royal DSM, a global science-based company focused on health, nutrition and materials, says there’s a good reason that use of medical gowns made with membranes from its Arnitel VT thermoplastic copolyester elastomer is long-established and yet continues to grow. Gowns made with this material have been used successfully in leading US hospitals and medical installations for nearly a decade.
Arnitel VT, which DSM produces in the Netherlands, is a very flexible material that, when made into membranes down to a few microns thick, is 100% waterproof but also highly breathable, comfortable and durable. These membranes contain no perforations, but still allow the passage of moisture vapour.
The waterproof performance of perforated membranes is more likely to be compromised during washing or when in contact with liquids such as disinfectants, or with bodily fluids, alcohol or fuel. Perforations also reduce the strength of the membrane, increasing the chances of ripping. And such tiny holes can become clogged, causing the membrane to lose much of its breathability. Since Arnitel VT is not perforated, it acts as a barrier to not only liquids, but to bacteria and viruses as well.
Depending on the performance level of a gown, different levels of barriers are needed. “Bacterial and viral barrier under wet conditions is the most severe circumstance for a membrane,” according to Rainer Meburger, DSM’s global business director for Arnitel.
Comfort also plays an important part in material choice. “Surgeons in the operating theatre need to be able to work highly concentrated for hours, so they want a gown that is comfortable to wear,” said Meburger. “Comfort is related to several aspects – design, fit, breathability, weight and skin sensitivity. Arnitel VT is particularly strong in most of these aspects.”
Medical gowns made from Arnitel VT are designed for single-use, in line with trends around the world. Roughly 60% of the European market for surgical gowns today is disposable, while in the US the figure is above 90%. The percentage of single-use surgical gowns is lower in other regions, but continues to increase.
Meburger points out that, in addition to all these performance characteristics, Arnitel VT also has a strong sustainability story. It is fully recyclable, and the material also is completely free of perfluorinated compounds.
Arnitel VT membranes are manufactured from a lower-carbon-footprint polymer and use less material than standard membranes based on PFCs, such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).
If everyone in the global breathable membrane market (estimated at 25 million square meters per year) would use Arnitel VT, DSM suggests that carbon dioxide emissions could be reduced by some 5.2 kilotons. That is equal to the average annual carbon footprint of 650 people in Western Europe, or to travelling around the world in a car 990 times.
“Arnitel provides the combination of comfort – feel and breathability – as well as a 100% bacterial and viral barrier,” Meburger claims. The stakes are too high, he suggests, to compromise on other materials that don’t offer all of these key features.