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P. Madiwale et al.
Textile materials like leather strips, horse hair, cotton fibre, animal sinew and tree
bark have been used since 2500 years as medicine as reported in “Susanta Sambita”.
Variety of medical applications of textile has been ventured with the time [1].
Textile has a wide range of applications in medicine ranging from non-implantable
materials like wound care materials, prosthetic socks, bandages, pressure garments
adhesive tapes, orthopaedic belts, medical gowns, sanitary pads and eye pads. The
market medical textiles in developed countries due to age factor and in developing countries are due to socio-economic changes and technical advancement in
implantable materials, tissue engineering and spinal implants are contributing factors for exponentially increasing growth [2]. The advancement and sophistication in
the usage of textiles has only evolved for the betterment of the medical world. The
presence of very few market players forces the global medical textile market to be
consolidated in nature. The global completion in the medical textile industry is very
high with Germany ranking first of the global export followed by India, China and
U.S. The global demand of medical textile is increasing with the combination of
increased demand in developed and developing economies across the globe. However production of medical textile products is geographically concentrated while very
few market players are driving the market. Skilled labour, lower manufacturing cost,
availability of raw material are the driving forces which can create opportunity in
new markets with increase in competition of existing market as well [3].
2 Textile Forms Used in Medical Field
Crucial properties of textile material such as tensile strength, flexibility, air and
moisture permeability and wicking render a textile material suitable for the medical
application. The end application of the material decides the material to be used to
produce medical textile product. However, all the textile fibres cannot be used as
medical textile products. Significant desirable properties required in the fibres to be
used in medical textiles are non-toxicity, sterilizability, biocompatibility, biodegradability, absorbing ability, softness and it should be additive and contaminants free [4,
5]. The field of medical textiles is wide spread [6]. Medical technology is witnessing
developments in terms of the use of fibres. Many textiles are been utilised having
properties such as high absorbability or, non-absorbable, biodegradable, or nonbiodegradable, or resorbable in the body. The medicinal products used are in various
forms like implantable and non-implantable materials, extracorporeal devices, health
care and hygiene. The use of textile and textile scaffolds in surgery and medicine
has made the medical field inseparable from textiles. The global market of medical
fabric can be divided into non-woven, woven, knitted and others (braided) based on
manufacturing technique. The non-woven fabrics dominate the medical textile field
contributing 64.29% of global market in 2018 in terms of volume. It is projects to
grow at 5% CAGR, fastest among all, over the forecast period. The non-woven fabric
is having superior properties in terms of disposability, less contamination, cost effectiveness and better performance. Woven fabric has the second largest contribution in
P. Madiwale et al.
Textile materials like leather strips, horse hair, cotton fibre, animal sinew and tree
bark have been used since 2500 years as medicine as reported in “Susanta Sambita”.
Variety of medical applications of textile has been ventured with the time [1].
Textile has a wide range of applications in medicine ranging from non-implantable
materials like wound care materials, prosthetic socks, bandages, pressure garments
adhesive tapes, orthopaedic belts, medical gowns, sanitary pads and eye pads. The
market medical textiles in developed countries due to age factor and in developing countries are due to socio-economic changes and technical advancement in
implantable materials, tissue engineering and spinal implants are contributing factors for exponentially increasing growth [2]. The advancement and sophistication in
the usage of textiles has only evolved for the betterment of the medical world. The
presence of very few market players forces the global medical textile market to be
consolidated in nature. The global completion in the medical textile industry is very
high with Germany ranking first of the global export followed by India, China and
U.S. The global demand of medical textile is increasing with the combination of
increased demand in developed and developing economies across the globe. However production of medical textile products is geographically concentrated while very
few market players are driving the market. Skilled labour, lower manufacturing cost,
availability of raw material are the driving forces which can create opportunity in
new markets with increase in competition of existing market as well [3].
2 Textile Forms Used in Medical Field
Crucial properties of textile material such as tensile strength, flexibility, air and
moisture permeability and wicking render a textile material suitable for the medical
application. The end application of the material decides the material to be used to
produce medical textile product. However, all the textile fibres cannot be used as
medical textile products. Significant desirable properties required in the fibres to be
used in medical textiles are non-toxicity, sterilizability, biocompatibility, biodegradability, absorbing ability, softness and it should be additive and contaminants free [4,
5]. The field of medical textiles is wide spread [6]. Medical technology is witnessing
developments in terms of the use of fibres. Many textiles are been utilised having
properties such as high absorbability or, non-absorbable, biodegradable, or nonbiodegradable, or resorbable in the body. The medicinal products used are in various
forms like implantable and non-implantable materials, extracorporeal devices, health
care and hygiene. The use of textile and textile scaffolds in surgery and medicine
has made the medical field inseparable from textiles. The global market of medical
fabric can be divided into non-woven, woven, knitted and others (braided) based on
manufacturing technique. The non-woven fabrics dominate the medical textile field
contributing 64.29% of global market in 2018 in terms of volume. It is projects to
grow at 5% CAGR, fastest among all, over the forecast period. The non-woven fabric
is having superior properties in terms of disposability, less contamination, cost effectiveness and better performance. Woven fabric has the second largest contribution in