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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.

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.