NEWS BRIEFS Non Woven Fabrics for Medical Textiles in World Emergency By Deepak Agrawal Director, Sparkle Texfab Pvt Ltd Many health experts believe that the new strain of corona virus (COVID-19) likely originated in bats or pangolins. The first transmission to humans was in Wuhan, China. Since then, the vi- rus has mostly spread through per- son-to-person contact. The Corona virus now has found its way to India and all around the World. While the world continues to find a cure for this deadly disease, Corona-19 virus out- break has caused serious damage to human life all around the world. This is very critical condition in healthcare in every country. The risk of getting the corona virus from patients is push- ing doctors to ask for better-quality protective gear, and adequate supply.and viruses. They are considered the gold standard of respirator masks but are in short supply. World has to Meet the Demand of the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to Fight From the Corona Virus (COVID-19) For everyone, PPE has become life saving jacket. So let’s have some idea how Non woven fabrics are playing a major role for making PPE and help- ing us to fight against COVID-19. PPE cost in India is very high and every doctor has to use it compulso- rily while attending to a COVID-19 patient. Personal Protective Equip- ment (PPE) includes protective cloth- ing, helmets, goggles, or other gar- ment. Protective equipment may be worn for job-related occupational safety and PPE suits can be similar in appearance to a clean room suit. For this reason nonwoven fabrics have emerged rapidly as the fabrics of the future. There is a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) all over world. N95 masks are able to filter out at least 95% of very small (0.3 micron) par- ticles from the air, including bacteriathroughout the fabric. Multiple layers can be combined to achieve desired strength, elongation and other me- chanical properties. Porosity can be controlled by varying fiber diameter, fiber density, fiber orientation and ad- ditional mechanical processing. Non- woven fabrics are used in medical field for surgical gowns, face masks, caps, pillow covers and bed spreads. Non-woven materials are used in nu- merous applications, including: Nonwovens are used in various fields. Because of their low price they are often used in disposable products. Nonwoven fabric is a fabric-like ma- terial made from man made staple fi- ber (short) and long fibers (continu- ous long), bonded together by chemi- cal, mechanical, heat or solvent treat- ment. Also, nonwovens may be a lim- ited-life, single-use fabric or a very durable fabric. Fabric broadly defined as a sheet or web structure bonded together by entangling medical fibers or filaments (and by perforating films) mechanically, thermally or chemically. They are flat, porous sheets made directly from separate fibers or from molten plastic or plastic film. The fi- bers in a non-woven fabric may be ori- ented in one direction or randomly NCM-APRIL 2020 85Medical Sector • • • • • • • • • • • • •Isolation gowns surgical gowns surgical drapes and covers surgical masks surgical scrub suits caps medical packaging: porosity allows gas sterilization gloves shoe covers bath wipes wound dressings drug delivery plasters The Coronavirus outbreak has caused a sudden surge in the global demand for surgical personal protective equip- ment.