An overview of the various parameters to consider for producing

surgical gowns beginning with raw

materials, methods of sterilisation to building parameters and more.  

Surgical gowns used by medical professionals are essential protective equipment

for securing one's health from various pathogens such as bacteria, viruses. If

the pores of the garments are less than the size of the microbes, micro-organisms

cannot pass through it. For producing garments, manufacturers have to be concerned

about the specification, comfort and cost of the products. It is really difficult to

incorporate each criterion. But manufacturers always try to develop their methods

depending on global response. This article discusses classification of the surgical

gowns based on fabric types and factors considered for their production process.

Classification on the basis of fabrics

According to fabric types, surgical gowns can be classified into three types:
Cotton/cotton-polyester: These are traditional fabrics having large pore sizes

through which micro-organisms can easily pass leading to poor barrier effects. For

providing better barrier quality, tightly woven fabrics should be blended with

polyester and long staple cotton and treated with liquid repellent fluorocarbons.

These kinds of fabrics are reusable but need to be applied by a repellent finishing

agent for enhancing the barrier effects as it reduces after each wash.

Microfilament fabrics: These are tightly woven fabrics just like cotton/cotton-

polyester, yet they are made from very fine filaments. They are subjected to

hydrophobic agent during the reprocessing process.

Multilayer fabrics: Multiple layers are used for achieving desirable objectives

here. For example, outer layers are designed to resist abrasion and puncture, middle

layers ensure resistance of fluid penetration and bottom layers provide comfort to

users.

According to usage purposes, the gowns can be divided into two ways, like

medical face

mask:

Disposable type surgical gowns: These types of surgical gowns used for one-time purpose, are

made by nonwoven techniques. In the US, disposable surgical gowns and drapes dominate

around 90 per cent of the market place For this single use product, manufacturers

sterilise the product and pass it on to the users. In this way, it is more

comfortable to the users and the barrier quality is also good. But as it is used only

a single time, it increases environmental hazard and cost of the products.

Reusable types surgical gowns: Reusable gowns made from woven fabrics are used

multiple times. It ensures lower clinical wastage and has cost benefits. But it is

difficult to maintain a good barrier life for these gowns on account of continuous

recycling process which makes it unsafe after a point of time.
Factors Considered for Production Process

There are various parameters involved in surgical gown disposable

production such as raw materials, methods of sterilisation, building

parameters. 

Raw Materials: Different types of fibre can be used as raw material but polyester

dominates the most because of its availability, comfort, barrier and costs.

Building Parameters: Besides nonwoven fabrics, plain and twill structure can be

used in surgical gowns and face

mask. Nowadays, researchers suggest using plain weave instead of twill weave as

twill weave contains large pores between cross points.

Methods of sterilisation: Sterilisation methods are applied to fabrics used in

surgical textiles for preventing them from catching infections. There are four types

of sterilisation methods which exist worldwide. They are gas, irradiation, steam

autoclave and dry heat. First two types are low temperature methods used for

disposable types of sterile surgical gowns and the last two types are related to

high temperature method used for reusable surgical gowns with

surgical pack. Steam

autoclave is widely used because it is effective, safe and inexpensive but it is not

suitable for heat and moisture sensitive fabrics. Ethylene oxide (Eto) is more

suitable for this method but it produces toxic and long cycles. Thus we can consider

two common methods as an alternative to the other methods - Steris System and the

Sterrad system.

Steris System: It is a microprocessor controlled low temperature sterilisation

method that has rapid cycle times of approximately 30 minutes. The ecofriendly by-

products sterilant flows through a flexible endoscope that facilities salt, protein,

and microbe removal. But a small number of instruments are processed in a cycle.

Sterrad System: The sterilisation system may use the combination of hydrogen

peroxide and low temperature gas plasma with temperature ranges from 45oc to 50 oc

and operation time cycles time varying from 45 to 70 minutes. Hydrogen peroxide is

known as an antimicrobial agent. Free radicals of hydrogen peroxide interact with the

cell membrane, nucleic acid, or enzymes to break the life function of micro-organism.

This has a small sterilisation chamber of about 3-5 ft3.

About the Author: Mehedi Hasan Chaion is an undergraduate student of the

Department of Textile Engineering at Jashore University of Science and Technology

(JUST), Jashore, Bangladesh.
References:

(Behera & Arora, 2009) (McCarthy, 2011) (Rutala & Weber, 1999) Behera, B. K., &

Arora, H. (2009). Surgical Gown: A Critical Review. Journal of Industrial Textiles,

38(3), 205-231. https://doi.org/10.1177/1528083708091251

McCarthy, B. J. (Ed.). (2011). Textiles for hygiene and infection control.

Oxford: Woodhead Publ. [u.a.].


Rutala, WA, & Weber, D. J. (1999). Infection control: The role of disinfection

and sterilization. Journal of Hospital Infection, 43, S43-S55.

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0195-6701(99)90065-8