Chapter 13 - Medical textiles

Abstract

Medical healthcare is one of the most important part of textile industry due to the constant improvement in textile technology and medical procedures. Medical textile is referred to all fiber-based products and structures used in medical applications such as tissue engineering and drug delivery systems. With the development of materials science and related research works, new fibrous materials and manufacturing technologies have been introduced for medical sectors. Physical and chemical modifications of fiber structures, developing stimuli-responsive materials and multifunctional finishing on textiles are the most important approaches for the preparation of new medical textiles with promising applications. In addition, novel fabrication methods such as electrospinning, melt spinning and various 3D printing techniques have also been developed to create ideal fibrous materials for medical usage. Due to these new technologies, a wide range of textile materials with various designs and properties are now available in medical fields. Medical devices and implants, smart drug delivery systems, sutures, healthcare textiles, surgical dressing, sanitary napkins and incontinence diapers are the most commonly used medical textile products. In this review, we present different classification of medical textiles, surface modification and finishing on medical fibrous materials. The physicochemical characteristics of medical textiles and their potential applications in tissue engineering, drug delivery and medical healthcare are also discussed.