The latest product developments in advanced wound care mark a further milestone in medical nonwovens for Freudenberg Nonwovens, the company that has been developing medical nonwoven products for the last 40 years.

Freudenberg has produced nonwovens made of chitosan fibres that are said to accelerate the healing process in the treatment of chronic wounds.

Dr Oliver Heneric, Head of the Medical Segment at Freudenberg Nonwovens, commented: “One goal for us is to stimulate the human body’s capacity to heal itself following an acute injury. And another is to help make life easier for people with chronic wounds, like diabetics.”

Chitosan fibres

Over the last few years, the company has developed new, highly-complex products such as solutions featuring chitosan fibres.

 In combination with a hydroactive nonwoven, these fibres bring new perspectives for the healing process and are already proving their worth in practice, according to the manufacturer.

Chitosan is a biopolymer derived from the shells of sea crustaceans, which is said to stop bleeding and help wounds heal more quickly.

Activated carbon filters

Freudenberg began manufacturing medical nonwovens in the 1970s, building a facility for the production of activated carbon filters in Littleborough, UK. Today, this unit produces these filters for integration in stoma pouches to remove malodours. Nonwovens for stoma pouch covers and flanges round off the stoma care product portfolio.

According to the company, the new product applications that improve the quality of life for patients and accelerate healing are the outcome of individual customer projects carried out at the facility.

“We have a close and trusting collaboration with Europe’s leading medical device manufacturers and can offer customers individual product solutions based on our long-standing experience and know-how. Our medical nonwovens are marketed worldwide,” commented Dr Schlesselmann, Head of Medical Nonwovens Research and Development at Freudenberg Nonwovens.

Advanced wound care

Wound pads for traditional dry wound care were one of the stepping stones on the path from the first medical nonwovens to today’s advanced wound care. In the 1980s the company launched wound pads made of nonwovens instead of knitted products for use in plasters.

An antimicrobial finish was added from the 1990s. Thanks to the untiring efforts of the in-house development team, the present-day product range includes all commonly-used active ingredients.

Transdermal applications

The most recent Freudenberg additions to the product programme include nonwovens and composite fibrous films approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration in USA) for transdermal applications.

These products are manufactured in Japan by the long-standing joint-venture partner JVC (Japan Vilene Company) and marketed worldwide, primarily in the USA but also increasingly on markets in Europe.

The transdermal approach to the delivery of medication is more beneficial to the human body, the company says, because it bypasses the body’s metabolism.

www.freudenberg-nw.com