Avaliação do potencial de novos têxteis técnicos para a área biomédica

Abstract

Functional clothing is an evolving segment in the functional textile market, an area where new fields are integrated such as medicine, biotechnology, nanotechnology or information technology, to meet the diverse and complex requirements from the end-user. In the medical industry these innovations can be found in various applications: clothing, bandages, surgical implants, bedding, etc. The geriatric area has been gaining particular importance in the textile sector due to the increasing number of end users with increased life expectancy of the population. In fact, the quality of life of the elderly can in many cases be significantly improved by simple functional innovations in the field of textiles. This thesis aims to contribute to addressing the challenge posed by the textile company Nordstrom to CeNTI research center (Center for Nanotechnology and Technical Materials, Functional and Intelligent), the valuation of new functional textile materials with high added value in geriatric applications. In this context new textile 3D matrices were studied, based on natural polymers that have been recently developed. A study was developed on the applicability of new 3D textiles based on two distinct polymer systems: silk and cupro/polypropylene, for use in patients with greater difficulty in thermoregulation, bedridden and the elderly with little or no physical activity. Various physico-chemical properties of the materials were studied (hydrophilicity, wettability, thermal comfort), and the comfortability of the product through tests that assess the ability to evaporate sweat from skin. The incorporation ability of a natural origin drug of model in 3D textiles, aescin, was also studied, which is a bioactive principle used in the symptomatic treatment of functional disorders of the veins of the lower limbs (chronic venous insufficiency). The 3D textile substrate which has gathered the most interesting properties for the proposed application was the cupro/polypropylene system as compared to the 3D textile containing silk, and the traditional textiles of cotton and polyester. For the thermal corfort, 3D cupro fiber/polypropylene had a higher thermal insulation compared to 2D textile. This feature is essential for users with greater difficulty in thermoregulation, as bedridden patients and elderly with little or no physical activity. This textile presented a higher hydrophilicity on both sides and a more favorable profile of water absorption. It was also capable of absorbing a greater amount of water in a smaller time interval. Since this fiber showed a local absorption and higher capillarity, it can be more effective in allowing evaporation of sweat from the skin to the environment. From the functionalization of cotton 2D textile substrates and 3D cupro/polypropylene with escin, it was concluded that the latter provided better drug retention capacity (escin), showing a release profile which can be more easily controlled. The fabric can hold larger amounts of the drug since the release of escin is slower as compared to the 2D cotton fabric, which consequently will allow a better control of drug dosage to be delivered to the human body. In general, the presented work opens new avenues for future work in the area of functional textiles, in the context of geriatrics and health care.

Date of Award	29 Apr 2016
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Ana Leite Oliveira (Supervisor) & Carla Silva (Co-Supervisor)