Disposable Nitrile Gloves Research Articles

Designing an Optical Bendloss Sensor for Clinical ForcMeasurement

For many clinicians, their effectiveness is dependent on the force they manually apply to their patients. However, current care strategies lack quantitative feedback making it difficult to provide consistent care over time and among several clinicians. We have developed a disposable force-sensing glove that provides real-time quantitative feedback in the clinical setting. To minimally affect a clinician's function, obtain maximal signal to noise in a medical environment, and maintain patient safety, a fiber optic sensor has been developed for this application. A disposable nitrile glove with embedded fiber optic force sensor has been developed and initially tested for clinical efficacy. The sensor's design is based on the bendloss properties of optical fiber whereby the attenuation of light through a fiber is related to the bending of that fiber through a series of corrugated teeth. The sensor is fabricated in two parts, sandwiching the fiber between alternating teeth. When force is applied across the sensor, the teeth engage the fiber and bend it along an elastic, repeating profile. the specific light attenuation is dependent on the amount of bending that the fiber experiences between the teeth and can be used to measure the load applied to the sensor. Fabricated at 10×8×1 mm, the sensor achieves an appropriate clinical thickness and minimally affects normal clinical thickness and minimally affects normal clinical function. It provides real-time force feedback up to 90 lbs with 0.1 lb resolution. The sensitivity of the sensor follows an exponential relationship with strong agreement to theoretical calculations. Because the calibration curve is non-linear, the sensor is most sensitive at low forces allowing detection of extremely delicate forces such as the pulse from the carotid artery. Each glove is fabricated with a single sensor embedded in the fingertip or palm and a magnetic connector couples the glove with a non-disposable wrist cuff. The wrist cuff houses the power supply, light source, and photodetectors. The fibers are nonpermanently coupled to their respective sources and detectors completing the optical path from source, through the fiber and sensor, to the detector. The light intensity is then transmitted to the display module which calibrates and displays the force graphically in real-time. The display module records, summarizes, and stores the data from each clinical session allowing clinicians to collaborate on treatment protocols and provide consistent care over time. Initial results from current clinical trials with physical therapists at the University of Minnesota have indicated improved recovery time after surgery. Twenty-four ACL reconstruction patients have been monitored post-operation for five weeks and the experimental group treated with the glove has demonstrated significantly faster recovery to normal range of motion than the control group. It has been suggested that the quantification of patient evaluation allowed the clinicians to recommend adjustments to at-home stretching regimens, contributing to faster healing times. Similar clinical studies are planned for chiropractic care and other physical therapy procedures. This fiberoptic force sensing glove represents a new biomedical tool which can impact patient evaluation and care by providing clinicians with a quantified sense of touch.

A Moving Robotic Hand System for Whole-Glove Permeation and Penetration: Captan and Nitrile Gloves

The aim of this study was to develop a robotic hand to test the influence of hand movement on the permeation/penetration of captan through disposable nitrile rubber gloves. An available robotic hand was modified to within one standard deviation of the anthropometric 50th percentile male hand. Permeation tests used a nylon inspection glove interposed between medium-size outer and inner nitrile gloves, the latter protected the hand. Permeation of an aqueous emulsion (217 mg/mL) of captan was conducted at 35°C ± 0.7°C. A new surface wipe technique facilitated collection of captan from the inner surface of the exposed nitrile gloves, a technique favored above rinse methods that extracted captan from within the glove. With hand movement, the permeated mass of captan collected after 8 hr ranged from 1.6 to 970 μ g (Brand A) and 8.6 ± 1.2 μ g (Brand B). Without hand movement, the corresponding masses ranged from 1.4 to 8.4 μ g (Brand A) and 11 ± 3 μ g (Brand B). These results were not significantly different at p ≤ 0.05 using parametric and nonparametric statistical tests but indicated that hand movement could influence the precision of permeation (F-test p ≤ 0.05). One glove exhibited failure after 2 hr with movement, in comparison with 0.5 to 9.9 μ g captan with no movement. Hand movement did not appear to significantly affect the permeation of captan through nitrile gloves. However, hand movement did influence physical and/or chemical degradation, resulting in glove failures. The robotic hand simulated normal hand motions, was reliable, and could be used to assess the influence of hand movement on the permeation of nonvolatile components through gloves. Future research should continue to investigate the influence of hand movement and additional work factors on the permeation, penetration, and physical integrity of protective gloves.

Permeation of a straight oil metalworking fluid through disposable nitrile, chloroprene, vinyl, and latex gloves

The aim was to investigate the permeation of a straight oil metalworking fluid (MWF) through four types of glove materials using the gravimetric method and the modified American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) F739-99a method with perfluorohexane and hexane as collection solvents. The residual masses on the collection side were determined after solvent evaporation for both MWF and blank (air) challenges. With perfluorohexane, the permeated MWF through gloves after 8 h was around the lower quantifiable limit for nitrile, 0.7 ± 0.2 mg/cm 2 for vinyl, 10.0 ± 1.2 mg/cm 2 for chloroprene, and 33.0 ± 0.7 mg/cm 2 for latex. Hexane increased the amounts and rates of MWF permeating all gloves 39–73 times, except for vinyl where extractable mass was so high that the residues for MWF challenges and for hexane blanks were indistinguishable. Hexane as a collection solvent also extracted more glove components than did perfluorohexane, and back-permeated gloves in much larger amounts. Perfluorohexane allows better estimates of the real permeation rates and breakthrough times than does hexane. Recommendations based on breakthrough times and permeation rates with hexane collection are thus too conservative, although the relative ranking of these four types of gloves was the same with either collection solvent.

Permeation of a straight oil metalworking fluid through a disposable and a chemically protective nitrile glove

The aim of the present study was to quantify the permeation parameters of a complex water-insoluble straight oil metalworking fluid (MWF) of low volatility through nitrile gloves. The permeation through a chemically protective and a disposable glove was investigated using the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) F739-99a method with hexane as the collection medium. Analysis of collection side samples involved gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and gravimetry. The detection breakthrough time for the chemically protective glove was >10 h. For the disposable glove, the detection breakthrough time was 0.7 ± 0.3 h, the lag time was 1.6 ± 0.1 h, the diffusion coefficient was (3.7 ± 0.3) × 10 −9 cm 2/min, and the steady state permeation rate was 3.5 ± 2.2 μg/cm 2/min. The disposable nitrile glove can be worn for about 30 min for incidental contact with straight oil MWFs without known carcinogens. The chemically protective nitrile glove should be worn otherwise. The chromatogram for the permeate differed from that of the original MWF, resulting from the faster permeation of lower molecular weight congeners. The combination of chromatography and gravimetry allowed quantifying the permeation parameters of complex water-insoluble non-volatile mixtures.

Analysis of Captan on Nitrile Glove Surfaces Using a Portable Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer

This study developed a method to produce uniform captan surface films on a disposable nitrile glove for quantitation with a portable attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectrometer. A permeation test was performed using aqueous captan formulation. Uniform captan surface films were produced using solvent casting with 2-propanol and a 25 mm filter holder connected to a vacuum manifold to control solvent evaporation. The coefficient of variation of the reflectance at 1735 +/- 5 cm(-1) was minimized by selection of the optimum solvent volume, airflow rate, and evaporation time. At room temperature, the lower to upper quantifiable limits were 0.31-20.7 microg/cm2 (r = 0.9967; p < or = 0.05) for the outer glove surface and 0.55-17.5 microg/cm2 (r = 0.9409; p < or = 0.05) for the inner surface. Relative humidity and temperature did not affect the uncoated gloves at the wavelength of captan analysis. Glove screening using ATR-FTIR was necessary as a control for between-glove variation. Captan permeation, after 8 hours exposure to an aqueous concentration of 217 mg/mL of Captan 50-WP, was detected at 0.8 +/- 0.3 microg/cm2 on the inner glove surface. ATR-FTIR can detect captan permeation and can determine the protectiveness of this glove in the field.

Permeation of captan through disposable nitrile glove

The purpose of this study was to investigate the permeation of an aqueous emulsion of the pesticide, captan, as a wettable powder (48.9% captan) through a disposable nitrile glove material using an American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)-type I-PTC-600 permeation cell. The goal was to investigate the protective capability of the gloves against dermatitis. The analytical method was based on gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and gas chromatography–electron capture detection (GC–ECD). The least quantifiable limit (LQL) was 6 ng for GC–ECD and 30 ng for GC–MS. Testing was conducted using the ASTM F739 closed-loop permeation method and a worst-case aqueous concentration 217 mg/ml of captan 50-WP. The average permeation rates were low, with 12±5 ng/(cm 2 min) after 2 h, 50±25 ng/(cm 2 min) after 4 h, and 77±58 ng/(cm 2 min) after 8 h. The calculated diffusion coefficient was (1.28±0.10)×10 −5 cm 2/h. No significant swelling or shrinkage occurred at P≤0.05. Infrared (IR) reflectance analysis of pre- and post-exposure glove surfaces confirmed no outer or inner surface degradation. The disposable nitrile glove showed excellent resistance to a highly concentrated aqueous emulsion of captan. Because the ASTM normalized breakthrough detection time of 250 ng/cm 2 was <2 h, these gloves should not be reused once worn, and decontamination is not advised. Protection is also advised for agricultural reentry field workers, because captan has been shown to persist on crops with a half-life greater than the current reentry intervals of 1–4 days.

An evaluation of nitrile gloves as an alternative to natural rubber latex for handling chemotherapeutic agents

Introduction. In 1986 and 1995, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued guidelines for the handling of chemotherapeutic agents. Natural rubber latex gloves are recommended for all levels of handling these drugs; these gloves provide both pro tection to the health care worker and a high degree of manual dexterity in performing tasks requiring fine motor skills. However, many health care workers experience allergic reactions to natural rubber latex, with symptoms ranging from minor skin irritation to systemic anaphylaxis; the latter is a serious life-threat ening condition. Therefore, it is extremely important that alternative glove materials be found that offer protection against biological and chemical agents and also afford health care workers ease of use and fit. Methods. In this study, we tested a thin-gauge (0.0045-inch gauge) disposable nitrile glove; this glove, which offers fine motor skill ability to its users, has been tested against a wide range of chemicals but has not yet been tested specifically against chemo therapeutic agents. Using American Society for Test ing and Materials method F739-92, these gloves were tested for permeation resistance at three concentra tions, simulating exposures to Pharmacy, Nursing, and Housekeeping staff. Eleven commonly used che motherapeutic drugs were investigated. Conductivity was used to determine whether drug was present in the test solutions. Result. Drug was not detected in any of the samples collected. When carmustine was tested, the effluent had a distinct alcohol odor, but no conduc tivity was noted. Conclusions. These disposable nitrile gloves appear to be acceptable for preparing the chemother apy agents tested. Hospitals must be open to finding replacements to natural rubber latex products and must alert their staff members about the potential for latex sensitivity in both patients and other staff mem bers. Manufacturers of non-latex gloves should be encouraged to conduct chemotherapy permeability studies on their products.

Importance of skin temperature in the regulation of sweating.

Human sweating regulation at rest, evaluating thermal inputs effects on thermoregulatory center and internal hypothalamic and skin temperatures