Comparative study of friction coefficient in nonwovens applied for non active medical devices

Abstract

Surgical gowns are considered non active medical devices. They can be single-use or reusable and during an operation they are in constant contact with the human skin. Interaction with human senses is therefore an important performance property. When touched by the human hand, friction is one of the first feelings and therefore friction coefficient is an important parameter. A parameter laboratory instrument was designed at the University of Minho based on an innovative method of acessing friction coefficient of 2D surfaces (fabrics, nonwovens, soft papers). Unlike other methods, the instrument FRICTORQ is based on a rotary movement and therefore on the measurement of a friction reaction torque. A short description of the FRICTORQ instrument will be given as well as its fundamentals and working principle followed by a study, where a comparison of the coefficient of friction between three different materials for manufacturing surgical gowns was performed. The tested materials were two Spunlace nonwovens and one SMS (spunlaid-meltblowing-spunlaid). 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-faces. Therefore, FRICTORQ measurements suggest that its results could be used as a confort parameter since information related with tactile perception is obtained.