A Research on Multilayered Nonwovens as Orthopedic Support Structures for Medical Applications

Abstract

During the last decades, nonwoven textiles have become widely used in the medical field due to their ease of use and due to the recent increase in the importance given to hygiene. In this study, multilayer nonwoven structures were developed in order to be used under the orthopedic bandages and plaster casts which are widely used in the fracture treatment. The aim of this development is to give more comfort and ease in use to the wearer. Wool, viscose and polypropylene were used as raw materials and multilayer nonwoven structures were produced by using meltblown and needling methods, then some samples were also combined with spunbond layers. Basis weight, thickness, air permeability, bending rigidity and water vapor permeability tests were applied to the multilayered nonwovens and the results were evaluated statistically by using SPSS software. The obtained results have shown that; two, three and multilayer nonwoven structures which can be used in the fracture treatment are good candidates to be replaced by cotton or synthetic pads since they provide better comfort to the user.

Keywords: Medical textiles, Medical nonwovens, Multilayer nonwovens, Meltblown, Needle punching

DOI: 10.7176/JSTR/5-7-09