Textiles are an ideal interface between human and medical applications. With the advancing technology, innovative medical textiles have been able to produce pharmaceutical prescriptions or applications made by medical doctors through consultation.
Newly developed textile fibers and different textile surfaces can be used for prevention of wound infections, hygiene of patients and personnel in operating rooms and surgical procedures, closing wounds that occur in different ways and suturing veins.
Products in the field of medical textiles; It consists of products such as surgical threads, bandages, surgical gowns and drapes, bandages, medical masks, wet wipes, urine-retaining cloths, waterproof mattress covers. Most of these products are disposable products.
Textile materials for medical and hygiene applications can be divided into two parts: materials used in external applications and materials used in interior applications.
1. External applications; They are materials applied outside the human body that can work with or without contact with the skin.
- Products that cannot be placed inside the body: wound dressings, bandages, plasters, gauze, dressings, tampons, fiber-optic elements.
- Extra bodily products: artificial kidney, liver and lungs.
- Care / Hygiene Products: It is used in many sectors, especially in the field of medicine. Although the product variety is very large, it is typically used in both surgery and patient rooms for hygiene, care and safety of staff and patients. Medical clothing used in hospitals (hoods, gowns, socks, gloves, protective clothing), bed covers can be given as examples of materials used in this area.
2. Internal Applications: Implantable textile products are used for either wound closure or repairing the body by performing the function of an organ or part removed from the body.
Since these products settle inside the body, they must contain features that will enable them to be accepted by the body. Vascular grafts, surgical threads, artificial joints and artificial ligaments can be given as examples of structures used in this area.
Desired Properties in Medical Textiles
Chemical, physical and biological properties should coexist in medical textiles. These features are;
- Technically compatible with other materials,
- Antiallergic and antibacterial,
- Sterile and biocompatible,
- Good resistance to alkalis, acids and micro-organisms,
- Biodegradable and environmentally friendly,
- Dirt-resistant or dirt-free,
- Good dimensional stability and flexibility,
- It should have good liquid absorbency / repellency and air permeability.
Medical Textile Samples
Arterial Vein
The textile-based artery is used to replace clogged or weakened parts. It is possible to produce straight or branched cores using weaving or warp knitting technology. Knitted veins have a porous structure that allows encapsulation with new tissue.
Disadvantage; may cause blood leakage between the threads in the structure after implantation. To reduce this risk, knitted arteries with inner and outer velvet surfaces are used.
Biodegradable Stents
The stent can be described as a cylindrical cage made of very thin metallic wires attached to the vessel wall to reduce the possibility of re-narrowing of the vessel opened with the balloon procedure. Arteries are blood vessels that carry blood from the heart to other parts of the body. In other words, stents are a small mesh tube used to treat narrow or weak arteries.
Fibers containing cotton, viscose, rayon, polyamide and alginate, which can be absorbed by the body within 2-3 months after implantation, are used.
Compression Stockings
Over time, widening, elongation and twisting occur in vessels that are stretched more than normal with high pressure. The high pressure reflected further down causes the formation of varicose veins in these veins.
Compression stockings aid blood flow by applying firm and continuous graduated pressure to the muscles and veins in the legs. In this way, the pressure applied to the leg decreases from the sole upwards.
Iron Lung
The microporous membranes of the mechanical lung have high permeability to gases but low permeability to liquids and function in the same way as the natural lung, allowing oxygen to come into contact with the patient's blood. Silicones or polypropylene fibers are used to manufacture mechanical lungs that allow gases to penetrate.
REFERENCE
Özbayrak, N., Varis Çoraplarının Performans Özelliklerinin İncelenmesi, Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Uludağ Üniversitesi, Bursa, 2009
Arıkan, H. K., İlaç Salınımlı Kompozit Yara Bandı, Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi, Kahramanmaraş, 2014
Akyürek, Ö., Yapay Organ Uygulamaları İçin Biyobozunur Lif Esaslı Üç boyutlu (3D) Dokuma Yapıların Geometrik Karakteristikleri, Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Erciyes Üniversitesi, Kayseri, 2019
Ersoy, Y., Duran, M., Tayyar, A. E., Tıbbi Tekstiller ve Yara Örtüsü, Düzce Üniversitesi Bilim ve Teknoloji Dergisi, Düzce, 2015
Bucak, Ş., Değertekin, M. M., Torun Köse, G., Can, E., Polimerik Kalp Stentleri, Bilim Teknik, 2010
Koyutürk, A., Bazı Bitkilerin Antibakteriyel Özelliklerinin Araştırılarak Tıbbi Tekstil Alanında Kullanılması, Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Mehmet Akif Ersoy Üniversitesi, 2017
Öner, E., Marmara Üniversitesi Tekstil Mühendisliği Teknik Tekstiller Ders Notları, İstanbul, 2020