What Are the Applications of Teflon Films in Medical Materials?

Teflon film is currently widely used in medical materials, such as surgical gowns, surgical towels, protective isolation gowns, sterilization equipment wrapping materials, artificial organs, etc. In addition to protective effects, surgical gowns should also be breathable and moisture-permeable, so as to ensure that medical staff will not be infected by the patient's blood during the operation, and at the same time make the wearer feel comfortable. At present, there are surgical gowns with varying degrees of protection and breathability, such as surgical gowns with double-layer fabric laminated on the main body parts (abdomen to chest, wrists to elbows), surgical gowns laminated with Teflon film, and full-film laminated surgical gowns. According to the data, after testing 500 surgical gowns, it was found that in terms of blood permeability, the blood penetration infection rate of single-layer spunlace nonwoven surgical gowns was 9%, and the blood penetration infection rate of enhanced non-woven surgical gowns was 9%, while the use of Teflon film composite surgical gowns is only 2%. In terms of wearing comfort, the Teflon film composite surgical gown has good air permeability and moisture permeability, so it is equally comfortable to wear.

Protective isolation suits can protect medical staff, disinfectants, cleaning staff, etc. from viruses such as SARS and COVID-19 that are spread through air droplets. At present, the PTFE Teflon film is processed into network-shaped and asymmetrical micropores. The micropores vary from 0.1 to 0.3μm. The microporous film is mechanically trapped, adsorbed trapped, bridging trapped, and internally trapped. The carrier with the virus (such as droplets, flies or dust) is trapped on the surface of the film and inside the film. It is said that Teflon composite film laminated fabric protective clothing played an important role in controlling the spread and spread of SARS and other viruses as soon as possible. Its comprehensive protection performance meets and exceeds the requirements of the national standard GB19082-2003, the protection efficiency is greater than 95%, the moisture permeability is more than 8000g/m2*d, and it is comfortable to wear.

Surgical towel is a medical material that prevents blood and body fluids from flowing back to the wound from around the skin and causing infection during surgery. It is a sterile film with a hole in the center. It is pasted on the skin of the surgical site, and the doctor performs the operation on the hole. Due to the high moisture permeability of PTFE Teflon film, surgical towels using Teflon film will not cause sticking infection, and will not cause moisture to gather in the sticking area to separate the film from the skin. Similarly, when Teflon film is used for intravenous injection site dressing, it can also reduce the wound site from being infected by bacteria, and the site where the dressing is attached for a long time will not be impregnated by body fluids. If you use impermeable fabric film dressings and dressing materials, because the body fluids can not be distributed, it will cause wound infections due to bacterial reproduction in external wounds and surgical wounds.

PTFE Teflon film has no negative effects on the human body and is non-toxic. It can be widely used for surgical suture of human organs, such as artificial blood vessels and heart valves.