It may seem like a very small thing. But the adhesive tape that healthcare workers use on bandages to bind and protect wounds is undergoing a whole new makeover, and at the same time, seeing a surge in global sales , according to a story by Emily Berlin, global market segment manager for Avery Dennison Medical Solutions.
Relatively flat for many decades, the adhesive-based medical device sector now continues to expand in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, with global sales expected to exceed $2 billion annually by 2015, Berlin reports.
A trend toward more holistic, personalized medical care “has led to greater awareness among clinicians of the role medical adhesives play in patient comfort and recovery, as well as the effects that certain medical conditions have on wound healing,” she writes.
Older patients, or patients with compromised immune systems, have, in some ways, motivated the industry to make s changes, Berlin notes. These patients may have highly sensitive skin and experience irritation when exposed to conventional adhesives, and often they require dressings and adhesives with specialized performance characteristics.
Also having a very strong influence on the market is the need to address preventable infections, according to Berlin. “Conventional general-purpose adhesive products are a possible cause of some infections,” she reveals. Hospital-acquired infections now affect one in every 20 patients, or about 13 percent of high-risk patients, and clinicians are seeking alternatives in order to improve patient outcomes.
Taken together, all these needs have brought the market sector to develop new-generation adhesive-based products tailored to specific applications, “such as vascular access and wound care, including securement and closure,” according to Berlin.
In the past, clinicians commonly carried roll tape in their pockets between patient sites, applied it without gloved hands, and sometimes, stick it to bedsides or tray tables. You can imagine the potential for germs traveling from one patient to another!
Writing at the European Medical Device Technology website, Berlin added that medical tape has long been the most widely used product for securing medical devices. “Paper tape for medical applications was introduced more than 50 years ago, and tape varieties made of fabric, silk, plastic and other materials have since entered the market,” according to Berlin, and is usually coated with latex-free acrylic adhesive, which can stick to wounds and cause pain and discomfort when removed or applied.
Not surprisingly, studies have detected the presence of bacteria on roll tape used in hospitals. In fact, one study found that “a full revolution of the tape had to be removed before reaching uncontaminated tape,” Berlin explains.
A new bandage-shaped fixation device for handling a wide range of medical tubes, lines, and drains has also increased the need for a more absorbent, gentle-to-the-skin kind of adhesive tape. In the past physicians used standard medical or surgical tape, but the acrylic adhesive used in these older tapes caused skin irritation in some patients, especially those whose skin was extremely sensitive, bringing about the search for materials that still adhered, but were not as unyielding as the ones used in acrylic adhesives.
Edited by
Rich Steeves
