Glove Performance Research Articles

The Role of Bio-Inspired Soft Robotic Gloves in Stroke Rehabilitation: A Comprehensive Analytical Review

Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability, with many survivors experiencing impaired motor function. Traditional rehabilitation methods often face limitations in achieving full functional recovery. In recent years, bio-inspired soft robotic gloves have emerged as a promising solution for enhancing stroke rehabilitation, mimicking the natural movement and adaptability of biological systems. This paper provides a comprehensive analytical review of bio-inspired soft robotic gloves designed for stroke rehabilitation, focusing on their development, fabrication methods and therapeutic applications. The primary objective of this review is to evaluate the role of bio-inspired designs in the creation of soft robotic gloves and assess their effectiveness in facilitating motor recovery post-stroke. A systematic analysis of existing literature is conducted, exploring various fabrication techniques, including soft material integration, actuators and sensors, as well as the application of these gloves in clinical and therapeutic settings. Findings from this review reveal that bio-inspired soft robotic gloves show significant potential in improving patient outcomes by enhancing finger and hand movement through assisted motor control. These devices offer advantages in terms of comfort, flexibility and adaptability, allowing for prolonged and intensive rehabilitation sessions. However, limitations remain, such as the high cost of fabrication, challenges in achieving precise motor control and the lack of large-scale clinical trials to validate long-term efficacy. The research has several implications: (1) Theoretical: advancing the understanding of bio-inspired design principles in soft robotics; (2) Methodological: highlighting fabrication techniques that enhance glove performance and user adaptability. This review offers original value by consolidating and analysing recent developments in bio-inspired soft robotic gloves, contributing to both the academic literature and practical applications in stroke rehabilitation. It emphasizes the necessity of future research to address current limitations, especially in optimizing performance and reducing production costs, while enhancing patient outcomes.

Durability Variation Among Medical Gloves Made from Existing and New Elastomers Poses a Risk to Public Health.

Despite being an essential line of defense in preventing the spread of diseases, medical glove durability is neither measured routinely nor has standard specifications. In this study, a new glove durability assessment device is used to objectively compare the durability of gloves made of a variety of elastomers from different manufacturers. Results are related to several mechanical tests, including stress relaxation, tensile and tear tests. Overall, natural latex gloves far outperformed those made of synthetic elastomers, and there is great disparity among the different brands of nitrile gloves, some of which do not meet nitrile glove performance requirements. The study includes prototype gloves made from guayule latex, a domestic source of alternative natural rubber latex, currently under commercial development. The guayule gloves outperformed all other gloves tested, including those made from Hevea latex, without posing allergy risks. Mechanical analysis demonstrated that the guayule gloves are as strong as the best alternatives, are softer and more elastic, have better tear strength, and have such low stress relaxation that they cause very little hand fatigue during use. Guayule latex can address the need for domestic production of gloves to resolve supply chain and quality issues and encourage a shift back to natural latex gloves, which will significantly diversify the natural rubber supply.

Evaluation of Glove Performance after Decontamination.

Studies of healthcare providers doffing personal protective equipment, especially gloves, indicate that self-contamination does occur. Although generally this is not hazardous, working with particularly pathogenic organisms, such as Ebola virus and Clostridium difficile, can present a serious health risk. Decontaminating medical gloves before removal can reduce self-contamination and mitigate the spread of these types of pathogens. Also, in cases of extreme shortage, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has specific recommendations for decontaminating gloves for extended use. Reuse of medical gloves is strongly discouraged by both the CDC and Food and Drug Administration. This work seeks to lay a foundation of testing to evaluate whether a decontamination method is compatible for a given glove type and material. Four potential methods of decontamination (commercial hand soap, alcohol-based hand sanitizer, commercial bleach, and quaternary ammonium solution) were tested on a variety of surgical and patient examination gloves. The method of barrier performance evaluation was ASTM D5151-19, Standard Test Method for Detection of Holes in Medical Gloves. Our results indicated that the performance of the gloves after treatment was highly dependent on the composition of the medical gloves. In general, the surgical gloves in this study performed better than the patient examination gloves, regardless of the material from which they were made. Specifically, vinyl examination gloves tended to have poorer performance. In this study, the number of gloves available to test were limited and therefore statistical significance is beyond the scope of this project.

The Impact of Protective Gloves on Manual Dexterity in Cold Environments-A Pilot Study.

Our research aimed to determine the impact of two types of protective gloves. The research tested the glove performance on men exposed to a range of temperatures reflecting the working conditions in fruit and vegetable processing. The gloves were assessed for performance within the time required to complete a specific manual task and for performance relative to the subjective thermal sensations in the male subjects. Six males participated in a total of 3 study variants: at +5 °C (with double gloves and single glove), at −1 °C (with double gloves and single glove) and in reference conditions +20 °C (without gloves), in which they performed manual tasks. The measurement of manual task performance time was used to assess manual dexterity. Subjective thermal sensations were determined. Differences in the time required to complete specific tasks were observed between the variants with gloves (both at a temperature of +5 °C and −1 °C), and without gloves (p < 0.05). The type of protective gloves had an impact on the time needed to complete manual tasks and therefore may affect manual dexterity.

Review of the Performance, Selection, and Use of Gloves for Chemical Protection

Skin is a potential route for occupational exposure to chemical agents, which can result in serious injury or illness. The selection of gloves and other chemical protective clothing (CPC) to protect against exposure to hazardous chemicals begins with an informed risk assessment and management approach, which relies on the science and art of glove selection. The science of glove selection includes a fundamental understanding of the limitations of gloves and other CPC, job hazard analyses to identify the hazards posed by specific tasks, choosing from a hierarchy of controls, familiarity with the relevant resources to guide selection, and, in some cases, additional glove performance testing and/or consultation with a qualified occupational and environmental safety and health professional. The art of glove selection includes important considerations, such as ease of use, comfort, cost, and acceptance by workers. Finally, a well-managed personal protective equipment (PPE) program incorporating periodic review, training, supervision, and documentation is critical to protecting workers from occupational injury or illness.

Optimized 3D printed wheelchair racing gloves

Wheelchair racing gloves are often hand crafted from thermoplastics. The geometries are unique to the individual, often with thumb or finger cavities rendering line-of-sight laser scanning techniques inappropriate for full digital capture. This study describes the use of micro-CT to reverse engineer the bespoke hard gloves of an elite Paralympic athlete, with fabrication via 3D printing. Subsequent design changes, combined with the identification and manipulation of key process parameters during material extrusion, have demonstrated this approach affords enhanced glove performance. Preliminary rolling road test results suggest a competitive advantage for the athlete. The approach is believed transferrable within physical rehabilitation.

Development and comprehensive evaluation of a new spring-steel-driven glove for grasping assistance during activities of daily living.

Millions of people suffer from a decline in grip strength and hand function due to conditions such as chronic disease, injuries, and aging. Hand function decline results in difficulties with performing activities of daily living, where grasping, lifting, and releasing objects are essential. There is an increasing demand for assistive gloves to enhance users' hand function and improve their independence. This paper presents the design of a new bidirectional lightweight assistive glove and demonstrates its capabilities through comprehensive experiments using human subjects. The developed glove can provide adequate power augmentation for grasping and releasing objects due to its simple yet effective design using spring steel strips and linear actuators. The glove directly transfers assistive forces to users' fingertips without any complex intermediate mechanism, and its low weight of 196 g promotes its usability. The rigorous experiment design provided a thorough assessment of the developed glove by accounting for both parameters of size and weight of objects and by including subjects with different hand sizes. To quantify the glove's performance, the subjects' muscle activity, their finger and thumb joints' trajectories, and their grasping forces while using the glove were investigated. The glove could generate the necessary grasping forces to assist with lifting common-household objects. The subjects' muscle activity significantly decreased when using the glove for object manipulation. The trajectories of the index finger and thumb joints when using the glove were dependent on the size of objects similar to natural unassisted grasping. The obtained results demonstrate the glove's ability for grip power augmentation of individuals with declining hand strength.

Glove performance in a warming climate: The role of glove material and climate on permeation resistance to organophosphate insecticides

Hands and forearms are the principal sites of dermal exposure to organophosphate insecticides, which makes glove use one of the most important components of an exposure control strategy. However, the selection of suitable gloves depends on issues such as task, type, and concentration of organophosphate as well as cost. In addition, chemical protection performance of gloves may be temperature dependent, which is of increasing concern in a warming climate. Two recommended reusable glove materials (polyvinylchloride and nitrile butadiene rubber) and one single-use glove (nitrile/neoprene) were tested for permeation resistance to actual formulations of organophosphate insecticides with active ingredients dimethoate and malathion. Chemical resistance parameters were measured using American society for testing and materials permeation test cells and compared across glove, organophosphate type, and temperature. The three gloves demonstrated comparable and adequate chemical resistance (less than one µg cm−2 min−1 for up to 8 hr exposure; 25–60 °C) for dilute forms of dimethoate and malathion, used during spraying activities. However, the single-use nitrile/neoprene glove is not designed to fully cover the elbow which limits its suitability. In permeation tests that reflect “worst case” exposure scenario to concentrated (neat) organophosphate formulations, as in mixing/loading tasks, a significant variation in chemical resistance between gloves was observed. While polyvinylchloride offered the maximum resistance, physical degradation of nitrile butadiene rubber after 3 hr of continuous exposure makes it unsuitable for handling neat dimethoate. The single-use nitrile/neoprene glove material had considerably poorer permeation resistance (up to 155-fold greater permeation and 6-fold shorter breakthrough) against neat formulations. Overall, elevated temperature (>40 °C) was shown to result in significantly greater (P < 0.05) cumulative permeation of neat formulation insecticides. This work demonstrates the variation in glove performance and potential for greater exposure risk particularly when mixing concentrated pesticides at elevated temperature conditions such as an occluded human skin or hot greenhouses. Training and guidance on testing, selection, use, and storage of gloves should consider in-use exposure scenarios and temperature-induced reduction in chemical protective performance.

Effects of Mucin on the dexterity and tactile sensitivity of medical glove users

The evaluation of medical glove performance has mostly focused on analysing how good a barrier the glove materials are, as well as their durability. Very few studies aim to determine how these gloves affect the performance of the user. This could lead to a lowered ability to carry out tasks, leading to poor healthcare due to diminished sensitivity and dexterity. Furthermore, none of these studies incorporate contaminants to replicate the real-world environments in which medical gloves are used. The work carried out here aims to look at the effects of the bodily fluid mucin on medical glove user's performance. This was assessed via the use of the Purdue Pegboard and Crawford Small Parts Dexterity Test in conjunction with a tactile bump sensitivity test. These tests were carried each in five conditions; bare hand, donned natural rubber latex (NRL) and donned acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (XNBR) gloves – both with and without a 10 mg/ml concentration of porcine gastric mucin applied. The results show that donning gloves decreased dexterity and sensitivity compared to the bare hand. However, mucin was shown to increase dexterity and sensitivity in XNBR, but not with NRL. This is expected to be due to the different ways in which the materials interact with the mucin, affecting the ability to develop a muco-adhesive film and changing the frictional properties of the glove materials.

Assessing Increased Activities of the Forearm Muscles Due to Anti-Vibration Gloves: Construct Validity of a Refined Methodology

The primary aim was to test the construct validity of a surface electromyography (EMG) measurement protocol, indirectly assessing the effects of anti-vibration (AV) gloves on activities of the forearm muscles. AV gloves impose a relatively higher grip demand and thus a higher risk for musculoskeletal disorders. Consequently, activities of the forearm muscles should be considered when assessing AV glove performance. Effects of AV gloves on activities of the forearm muscles (ECR: extensor carpi radialis longus; ED: extensor digitorum; FCR: flexor carpi radialis; FDS: flexor digitorum superficialis) were measured via EMG, while gripping a handle with two grip force levels. Fifteen subjects participated with 11 glove conditions, including one with bare hand. Activities of ECR, FCR, mean of ECR and FCR (ECR_FCR), and mean of all four muscles were sensitive to wearing gloves. Compared with bare hand, combined ECR_FCR activities increased by 22%-78% (mean = 48%, SD = 28%) with gloves. The correlation coefficient (r) of ECR_FCR activities with glove thickness and manual dexterity scores were 0.74 (p < .05) and 0.90 (p < .001), respectively. A refined EMG methodology was the most sensitive to AV gloves with specific forearm muscles (ECR and FCR) and the 50-N handgrip force. Its construct validity was further substantiated by correlations with glove thickness and manual dexterity. Assessment of the effect of AV gloves on activities of the forearm muscles can yield design guidance for AV gloves to reduce grip exertion by the gloved hand.

Fentanyl and carfentanil permeation through commercial disposable gloves

In 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that opioid overdose deaths (including fentanyl and carfentanil) comprised 46,802 (69%) of the 67,367 total drug overdose deaths. The opioid overdose epidemic affects Americans not only at home but also in the workplace. First responders may be at risk of opioid exposure during incidents such as vehicle searches and responses to overdose calls. To reduce direct exposure to opioids and other hazardous drugs, first responders rely in part on personal protective equipment (PPE) as their last line of defense. First responders seek guidance from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) regarding appropriate PPE selection for potential opioid exposure. There is limited empirical glove performance data for illicit drugs. Empirical data are needed to validate NIOSH’s current recommendations regarding gloves to help prevent exposure to illicit drugs (i.e., powder-free nitrile gloves with a minimum thickness of 5 ± 2 mil [0.127 ± 0.051 millimeters]); however, no industry standard or test method currently exists for specifically evaluating PPE performance against fentanyl and its analogs. To understand the permeation qualities of gloves when challenged against fentanyl and carfentanil solutions, the ASTM International (formerly American Society for Testing and Materials) ASTM D6978-19 standard for chemotherapy drug glove permeation was adapted to test fentanyl and carfentanil hydrochloride solution permeation through twelve disposable glove models, including five models in which the manufacturers claim fentanyl protection. No nitrile glove models showed fentanyl or carfentanil permeation rates above the chemotherapy drug threshold criterion of 0.01 µg/cm2/min (i.e., thereby meeting the performance requirement) as calculated using the ASTM D6978-19 standard within the 240-min test. Latex and vinyl glove materials exhibited fentanyl and carfentanil permeation with permeation rates above this threshold. These findings are among the first empirical data to support NIOSH’s current opioid glove recommendations and define procedures that could be used to support industry standards for evaluating opioid permeation through air-impermeable PPE materials.

Exposure of Agriculture Workers to Pesticides: The Effect of Heat on Protective Glove Performance and Skin Exposure to Dichlorvos.

Dichlorvos is a toxic organophosphate insecticide that is used in agriculture and other insecticide applications. Dermal uptake is a known exposure route for dichlorvos and chemical protective gloves are commonly utilized. Chemical handling and application may occur in a variety of thermal environments, and the rates of both chemical permeation through gloves and transdermal penetration may vary significantly with temperature. There has been no published research on the temperature-dependent kinetics of these processes for dichlorvos and thus, this study reports on the effects of hot conditions for the concentrated and application strength chemical. Dichlorvos breakthrough times for non-disposable polyvinyl chloride (PVC) gloves at 60 °C were approximately halved compared to 25 °C for the concentrate (2 vs. 4 h) and more than halved at application strength (3 vs. >8 h). From permeation experiments covering 15–60 °C, there was a 460-fold increase in cumulative permeation over 8 h for the concentrated dichlorvos and the estimated activation energy halved. Elevated temperature was also shown to be a significant factor for human skin penetration increasing the cumulative penetration of concentrate dichlorvos from 179 ± 37 to 1315 ± 362 µg/cm2 (p = 0.0032) and application strength from 29.8 ± 5.7 to 115 ± 19 µg/cm2 (p = 0.0131). This work illustrates the important role temperature plays in glove performance and health risk via dermal exposure. As such, it is important to consider in-use conditions of temperature when implementing chemical hygiene programs.

Therapeutic gloves for arthritis: development of a design framework

ABSTRACTTherapeutic gloves are an intervention widely recommended and prescribed by rheumatologists and occupational therapists for the management and treatment of hand arthritis. Different models of therapeutic gloves are commercially available, with varying design, construction and materials. However, a systematic classification for therapeutic gloves and their effectiveness has not been well established. In addition, little research has addressed the issue of material choice on glove performance. These knowledge gaps prompted the development of a framework for the design and engineering of functional and comfortable therapeutic gloves. Knowledge from multiple domains was integrated into a single framework and relationships between components were identified and characterised. The framework demonstrates that the design and engineering of therapeutic gloves requires fusion of functional design with comfort design to meet users’ demand for wearing comfort, relief of arthritic symptoms and improvement of hand function.

Exo-Glove PM: An Easily Customizable Modularized Pneumatic Assistive Glove

Customization is an important issue for assistive gloves because it affects glove performance. In this letter, we propose an assembly based customizable soft pneumatic assistive glove, named Exo-Glove PM. Pneumatic soft robots generally consist of a single structure with embedded actuators. However, when assembled, the region where the assemblies are connected easily undergoes large stress concentration that leads to failure. To overcome this issue, we have developed a hybrid actuator module that combines a soft actuation structure and rigid joining methods. In general, rigid joining methods require a bulky design to enable easy assembly, but Exo-Glove PM is designed to create pathways for assembly tools to access the bolt heads by bending certain parts. This novel way of joining assemblies allows soft robots to be built of multiple parts while minimizing the volume. It ensures small module size and enables modules to cover a wide range of hand sizes; the distance between each module is matched to the length of the user's phalanges using spacers. This approach allows users to customize the glove by assembly of standardized modules and maximizes the comfort and the performance of the glove without custom manufacturing and, thus, reduces costs.

Fingers vibration transmission performance of vibration reducing gloves

Vibration attenuation performance of vibration reducing (VR) gloves is, invariably, measured at the palm using the method described in ISO 10819 (2013). The standardized method, however, does not address the glove performance in terms of fingers vibration, which is substantially different from that of the palm. An investigation was conducted to enhance the understanding of fingers vibration transmission properties of 4 different types of VR gloves (air, gel, hybrid and leather) using 4 male subjects in the laboratory. Three different finger adapters, each containing a miniature three-axis accelerometer, were designed and assessed for measurements of vibration responses at the fingers of the gloved hand. Vibration responses of the VR gloves were measured at the middle phalanges of the index and middle fingers using two Velcro finger adapters under the standardized vibration spectra and the spectra of 3 different hand tools, namely a road breaker, a nutrunner and an orbital sander. Vibration transmissibility of the gloves was also measured at the palm using the standardized palm adapter. The frequency response functions (FRF) obtained for the fingers of the gloved hand were used to estimate vibration transmission performances of the gloves at the index and middle fingers. The results show that only the air and hybrid VR gloves provide some attenuation of vibration transmitted to the index finger compared to the bare hand, while nearly all the gloves amplify vibration of the middle finger. The vibration attenuation was evident at the palm for the air and hybrid gloves above 40 Hz. The gel and leather gloves revealed nearly unity transmissibility in most of the frequency range. Only the hybrid glove passed the criteria of ISO 10819 (2013) to be designated as an anti-vibration (AV) glove, although it amplified vibration transmitted to the middle finger, particularly in the H-frequency range (200–1250 Hz). Fairly good agreements (−11%–13%) were obtained between the measured and estimated fingers vibration responses for all the gloves using the FRF method under the vibration spectra of the selected tools.Relevance to industry:Vibration is transmitted to the hand-arm system of operators using power tools and occupational exposure to hand transmitted vibration (HTV) arising from hand-held power tools has been related to an array of disorders. Vibration reducing (VR) gloves are viewed as one of the simple methods to protect workers from hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). The international standard on the assessment of VR gloves addresses only the transmission of vibration to the palm, even though the vibration responses of fingers are substantially different. This study explored both the palm and fingers vibration transmissibility characteristics of VR gloves and proposed a method for assessing the vibration reduction performance of the glove under vibration spectra of different tools. The results of the study are thus considered to provide guidance towards enhanced screening criteria for AV gloves, and for selection of gloves for different tools.

Therapy gloves for patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a review.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease that causes pain, joint stiffness and swelling leading to impaired hand function and difficulty with daily activities. Wearing therapy gloves has been recommended by occupational therapists as one of the alternative treatment methods for rheumatoid arthritis. This study aims to review the available literature on the effects of wearing therapy gloves on patients' hand function and symptoms as well as to discuss the attributes of gloves that might influence the glove performance. An electronic databases search of MEDLINE, Physiotherapy Evidence Database, Occupational Therapy Systematic Evaluation of Evidence, Wiley Online Library, ScienceDirect and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trial was performed. Eight articles met the inclusion criteria, and covered seven clinical trials and one case study. Seven outcome measures were identified from the included studies and were then classified into two categories: hand function and hand symptoms. The hand symptoms such as pain, stiffness and swelling improve substantially when the therapy gloves are used. However, marginal or no improvement in hand function (with the exception of grip strength) linked to the use of therapy gloves is being reported. Further research is needed to quantify the effectiveness of therapy gloves, especially in improvement of hand function and in patients' interest in wearing therapy gloves. Furthermore, future studies should include parameters which might influence therapy gloves' performance, such as duration of trials, interface pressure generated by the gloves on the underlying skin and tissue, glove fit and construction, as well as thermophysiological comfort.

Tool-specific performance of vibration-reducing gloves for attenuating palm-transmitted vibrations in three orthogonal directions

Vibration-reducing (VR) gloves have been increasingly used to help reduce vibration exposure, but it remains unclear how effective these gloves are. The purpose of this study was to estimate tool-specific performances of VR gloves for reducing the vibrations transmitted to the palm of the hand in three orthogonal directions (3-D) in an attempt to assess glove effectiveness and aid in the appropriate selection of these gloves. Four typical VR gloves were considered in this study, two of which can be classified as anti-vibration (AV) gloves according to the current AV glove test standard. The average transmissibility spectrum of each glove in each direction was synthesized based on spectra measured in this study and other spectra collected from reported studies. More than seventy vibration spectra of various tools or machines were considered in the estimations, which were also measured in this study or collected from reported studies. The glove performance assessments were based on the percent reduction of frequency-weighted acceleration as is required in the current standard for assessing the risk of vibration exposures. The estimated tool-specific vibration reductions of the gloves indicate that the VR gloves could slightly reduce (<5%) or marginally amplify (<10%) the vibrations generated from low-frequency (<25 Hz) tools or those vibrating primarily along the axis of the tool handle. With other tools, the VR gloves could reduce palm-transmitted vibrations in the range of 5%–58%, primarily depending on the specific tool and its vibration spectra in the three directions. The two AV gloves were not more effective than the other gloves with some of the tools considered in this study. The implications of the results are discussed. Relevance to industryHand-transmitted vibration exposure may cause hand-arm vibration syndrome. Vibration-reducing gloves are considered as an alternative approach to reduce the vibration exposure. This study provides useful information on the effectiveness of the gloves when used with many tools for reducing the vibration transmitted to the palm in three directions. The results can aid in the appropriate selection and use of these gloves.

A study of clinicians’ views on medical gloves and their effect on manual performance

The effect of gloves on practitioners' performance has not been a major factor in their design. To determine the critical elements of performance and design appropriate tests, data from clinicians were needed. Semistructured interviews were carried out with medical practitioners from various disciplines, in which they were asked about their glove use, their views on gloves, medical tasks requiring the highest manual performance or most affected by gloves, and what the main issues with glove use were. Many participants expressed a preference for latex over nitrile, with glove fit being the main reason given. Satisfaction with surgical gloves (generally latex) was high but less so with examination gloves, which were generally nitrile. Tactile sensation, comfort, and donning were also seen as major issues with glove use. A number of tasks were identified for possible development as tests. Performance in medical practice needs to be clearly defined, separating perceived and measured performance, and understanding the effect of glove material, fit, and thickness. Development of new glove performance tests based on the tasks identified is an important part of this.

A phase II prospective, non-comparative assessment of a new silver sodium carboxymethylcellulose (AQUACEL® Ag BURN) glove in the management of partial thickness hand burns

BackgroundNylon-reinforced silver sodium carboxymethylcellulose (AQUACEL® Ag BURN) dressings were developed to be pliable and conforming for the management of partial-thickness burns. This study evaluated the AQUACEL® Ag BURN glove for the management of hand burns. MethodsThis 21-day, phase II, prospective, non-comparative study included 23 patients with partial-thickness hand burn of at least two fingers. The AQUACEL® Ag BURN glove was applied to one hand and could remain in place up to 21 days until clinically indicated to change the glove. Dressings were evaluated 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 14, and 21 days after initial application. Safety was the primary study endpoint. ResultsSixteen (70%) hand burns re-epithelialized fully over a mean of 15.6 days. Initial application was easy/very easy for 20 (87%) patients. Mean time for initial dressing application was 5.4min. At final evaluation, most patients gave ratings of excellent/good for conformability (91%), overall glove performance (74%), and appropriateness of sizes (83%). Mean pain score from 0 (none) to 10 (worst imaginable) was 3.43 at baseline; during the study, mean scores were 1.15 at rest and 2.29 during movement. Of 61 glove removals, most (72%) were easy/very easy, and 12% had fallen off. Adverse events (wound site or elsewhere) occurred in 15 (65%) patients. Treatment-related adverse events were wound pain (17%), maceration (9%), and stiff fingers (4%). ConclusionsThe AQUACEL® Ag BURN glove was well tolerated in the management of partial-thickness hand burn. Many patients used only one glove. When glove changes were required, they were usually quick and easy.

A comparison of the effect of different surgical gloves on objective measurement of fingertip cutaneous sensibility

INTRODUCTIONThe prudent selection of surgical gloves can deliver significant efficiency savings. However, objective data are lacking to compare differences in cutaneous sensibility between competing gloves. Therefore, the present study examined the use of a single comparable model of sterile surgical glove from two competing providers, Gammex PF HyGrip® (Ansell Limited, Red Bank, NJ, USA) with Biogel® (Molnlycke Health Care AB, Goteborg, Sweden). SUBJECTS AND METHODSCutaneous pressure threshold, static and moving two-point discrimination were measured as indices of objective surgical glove performance in 52 blinded healthcare professionals. RESULTSThe mean cutaneous pressure threshold was 0.0680 ± 0.0923 g for skin, 0.411 ± 0.661 g for Ansell gloves and 0.472 ± 0.768 g for Biogel gloves. Skin was significantly more sensitive than Ansell (P< 0.0001) or Biogel (P< 0.0001) gloves (Wilcoxon signed rank test). There was no statistical difference between Biogel and Ansell gloves (P = 0.359). There was no signif...