Research and Development Strategy for Medical Textile Products

Introduction
The term medical textile literally means textile used for medical purposes. Textile apart from
being a vital part human life is long since been used in medical field, though the term has
been coined very recently. Textile materials have wide range properties such as flexibility,
elasticity, strength etc. Textiles used for medical purposes should be non-allergic, non-
carcinogenic, non-toxic, and antistatic in nature, optimum fatigue endurance, bio-
compatibility, flame proof, dyes must be non irritant. An important and growing part of the
textile industry is the medical and related health care and hygiene sectors. The extent of the
growth is due to the constant improvements and innovations in both textile technology and
medical procedures. They are used in a number of separate and specialized applications
which can be categorized as follows:
. Non-implantable materials: Wound dressing, bandages, plasters etc.
. Extracorporeal devices: Artificial kidney, liver and lungs.
. Implantable materials: Sutures, vascular grafts, artificial joints etc.
. Healthcare/hygiene products: Bedding, clothing, surgical gowns cloths, wipes
Recent developments in medical textiles

 Reusable medical textiles

 Textiles for implants and regenerative medicine
 Textiles with cosmetic effects
 Textiles in drug delivery
 Comforts in medical textiles
 Textiles for hygiene
 Nano textiles in medical application
Various stages in new product development
Strategies for product development
References