JP3249286B2 - Nonwoven fabric for medical device sterilization - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a nonwoven fabric for sterilizing medical instruments, which is excellent in removing residual ethylene oxide and has water absorbability.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when sterilizing a medical device, the medical device is put in a sterilization bag and sealed, and then put in a bag again and used as a double bag or wrapped in a furoshiki. Was used. However, in the former method using a double bag, there is a problem that the bag is disposable and costly because the bag is torn open when a sterilized medical device is used. The latter furoshiki uses synthetic fibers such as polyethylene, polyester, and nylon as its material, and its cloth is mainly woven. In the method of sterilizing by wrapping in a furoshiki, the synthetic fiber of the material is unlikely to release ethylene oxide gas (hereinafter referred to as EOG) used for sterilization.
The removal of EOG remaining on the furoshiki is slow, which may adversely affect the human body. In addition, the wiping properties of water and blood are poor, and in addition, disposal after use is not easy,
There were various problems such as generation of offensive odor and toxic gas when incinerated.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems and has an appearance close to that of a woven or knitted fabric, has a soft feel, is excellent in drape property, and has a gamma ray and heat・
Various non-woven fabrics that can be sterilized by EOG, etc., are excellent in removing residual EOG, and have excellent wiping properties (wipe-drying property) for water and blood. It is an object of the present invention to provide a nonwoven fabric for medical device sterilization that does not generate toxic gas.

[0004]

The present invention achieves the above object and has the following constitution. That is, the present invention is composed of natural fibers, the constituent fibers are kept in a form by three-dimensional entanglement, and have a basis weight of 10 to 10.
A nonwoven fabric for medical device sterilization, characterized in that the nonwoven fabric has 0 g / m ² , a bulk density of 0.02 to 0.12 g / cc , and a residual EOG (ethylene oxide gas) removal property of 120 hours or less. Things.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail. The invention consists of natural fibers. Examples of the natural fiber used in the present invention include cotton, hemp, silk, wool, and the like, and any of them can be used. Further, these fibers may be used alone or a mixture of different types of natural fibers, or two or more natural fibers may be laminated. In addition, about cotton, not only combed cotton and bleached cotton, but also bristles obtained from yarn or woven or knitted fabric may be used.

The single fiber fineness of the natural fiber used in the present invention is preferably from 1.0 denier to 2.5 denier, more preferably less than 2.0 denier. Single yarn fineness is 1.0
If it is less than denier, the air permeability of EOG between fibers becomes poor, which is not preferable. On the other hand, if it exceeds 2.5 denier,
The feeling of the nonwoven fabric becomes hard, which is not preferable.

[0007] The present invention is a nonwoven fabric in which the constituent fibers are maintained in shape by three-dimensional entanglement. Here, the three-dimensional entanglement means that the fibers forming the fiber web are entangled not only in the lateral direction but also in the thickness direction, and have a structure that is densely integrated. As a method for producing a nonwoven fabric having three-dimensional confounding, there are a water jet punch method and a needle punch method.

The nonwoven fabric of the present invention has a basis weight of 10 to 100 g.
/ M ² . If the basis weight of the non-woven fabric is less than 10 g / m ² , the non-woven fabric is excellent in flexibility but is not practical because of low strength. Further, when the non-woven fabric is manufactured by the needle punch method, the confounding by needles is weakened. It is difficult to obtain depending on the method. On the other hand, if it exceeds 100 g / m ² , the permeability of EOG between the fibers becomes poor, and the nonwoven fabric becomes coarse and hard, which is not preferable. Not only does a large amount of energy be required for the initial entanglement, but also the liquid flow does not penetrate the fibrous web, and sufficient strength is not obtained, and the object of the present invention cannot be achieved.

The nonwoven fabric of the present invention has a bulk density of 0.02 to 0.2.
12g / cc der is, more preferably 0.04~0.10g
/ Cc. When the bulk density is less than 0.02 g / cc, the nonwoven fabric is excellent in flexibility but is not practical because of low strength. On the other hand, if it exceeds 0.12 g / cc, the permeability of EOG between the fibers becomes worse, and the nonwoven fabric becomes coarse and hard, which is not preferable.

[0010] The method for producing the nonwoven fabric of the present invention can be obtained by three-dimensionally entangled a fiber web composed of the natural fibers by a water jet punching method or a needle punching method and performing a drying treatment. The nonwoven fabric of the present invention is preferably obtained by a water jet punch method, and a natural fiber nonwoven fabric made of cotton subjected to the water jet punch method is suitable in terms of performance such as strength and flexibility and productivity.

Although the nonwoven fabric of the present invention can be obtained by a needle punch method, it is desirable to use a water jet punch method when a material having dimensional stability and fuzz prevention properties is desired.

[0012] The nonwoven fabric of the present invention has a residual EOG removal property of 1
20 hours or less. Here, the residual EOG removal property is measured by the following method. 10 g of the sterilized sample was placed in a 100 ml headspace bottle, and was previously placed in ethanol containing a certain amount of propylene oxide as an internal standard, so that all samples were completely immersed.
The mixture was gently shaken at 3 ° C. for 3 hours, and 3 μl of the liquid phase portion was taken and injected into a gas chromatograph. The time until the amount of residual EOG became 5 ppm or less was measured, and the residual EOG removal was determined. Residual E
It is assumed that the shorter the time when the OG amount is 5 ppm or less, the better. In addition, the analysis method uses an ethanol method.
When the residual EOG removal property exceeds 120 hours, it is difficult to say that the residual EOG removal property is excellent.

When the nonwoven fabric of the present invention is applied to the above-mentioned applications, its size may be appropriately selected according to the size of the object to be wrapped. It is preferable to simultaneously perform welding and fusing of the nonwoven fabric to an appropriate size using an ultrasonic fusing machine.
The ultrasonic fusing machine has a transmission frequency of 19-20 kHz and a linear pressure of 2-3.
kg / cm is preferred.

[0014]

The nonwoven fabric for medical device sterilization of the present invention is composed of natural fibers, and the constituent fibers have a shape retention of 3 to 100 g / m ² by three-dimensional entanglement.・ EOG etc. are possible, excellent in removing residual EOG, having a soft feeling, and excellent in drape property.
In addition, water and blood can be wiped off during surgery and the like because of good water absorption. In addition, it has excellent industrial waste properties, and does not generate odor or toxic gas even when incinerated.

[0015]

The present invention will be described below with reference to examples. The evaluation in the present invention was performed by the following measuring method.
Tensile strength of nonwoven fabric (kg / 5cm width): Using Tensilon UTM-4-1-100 manufactured by Toyo Baldwin Co., Ltd.
It was measured according to the strip method described in ISL-1096. That is, a sample piece having a sample width of 5 cm and a sample length of 10 cm is prepared, and a maximum tensile strength (kg) is obtained by measuring a tensile speed of each sample at a pulling rate of 10 cm / min, and a tensile strength of the nonwoven fabric (kg / 5 cm width). And Water absorption (mm): Measured according to the birec method described in JIS L-1096. 2.5 cm × 20 cm, 5 pieces each, and each test piece are suspended with a pin on a horizontal bar held at a certain height on a water tank containing distilled water at 20 ± 2 ° C. Align the lower end of the test piece with the horizontal bar and lower the horizontal bar so that 1 cm of the lower end of the test piece is just soaked in water. Next, the height (mm) of the water after standing for 10 minutes was measured,
It was made water absorbent. As a result, the average value (mm) of each side is displayed in an integer place. Bulk density (g / cc): Bulk density (g / cc) = weight (g / cc)
m ² ) ÷ Thickness (μm)

EXAMPLE 1 A cotton short fiber web having a basis weight of 15 g / m ^{2 having} an irregular fiber arrangement was obtained by a random card machine using a bleached cotton having an average fineness of 1.5 denier and an average fiber length of 25 mm. Was.
This cotton staple fiber web is placed on a mesh net moving at a speed of 20 m / min.
mm, injection hole diameter 0.1mm, injection hole interval 0.6m
m, as the first preliminary confounding, from the injection holes arranged in a line at m, a confounding treatment is performed with water at room temperature at a water pressure of 30 kg / cm ² · G, and then a ^second confounding treatment is performed using the same net and , Water pressure 70 kg / cm ²
The confounding treatment was performed four times with the water pressure of G. Further, as the third confounding process, using the same net and injection holes as described above, inverting the cotton nonwoven web subjected to the confounding process,
Perform the confounding process five times under the same water pressure conditions as the second time,
A cotton non-woven web that was densely entangled on both sides was obtained. The obtained cotton nonwoven web was subjected to a drying treatment at a temperature of 100 ° C. after removing excess water with a mangle to obtain a cotton nonwoven fabric of Example 1. The obtained cotton nonwoven fabric had a dense three-dimensional confound on both sides with a basis weight of 10 g / m ² and a bulk density of 0.12 g / cc.

EXAMPLE ² A cotton short fiber web having a basis weight of 70 g / m ² and a non-uniform fiber arrangement was used with a random card machine using bleached cotton having an average fineness of 1.5 denier and an average fiber length of 25 mm. A cotton nonwoven fabric of Example 2 was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except for the difference. The obtained cotton nonwoven fabric had a dense three-dimensional confound on both sides with a basis weight of 50 g / m ² and a bulk density of 0.09 g / cc.

Example 3 Using a cotton bleached cotton with an average fineness of 1.5 denier and an average fiber length of 25 mm, using a random carding machine, a cotton short fiber web having a basis weight of 145 g / m ^{2 with} an irregular fiber arrangement was used. A cotton nonwoven fabric of Example 3 was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except for the difference. The obtained cotton nonwoven fabric had a dense three-dimensional confound on both sides with a basis weight of 100 g / m ² and a bulk density of 0.07 g / cc.

Example 4 Using a cotton bleached cotton having an average fineness of 1.5 denier and an average fiber length of 25 mm, and using a random carding machine, a cotton short fiber web having a basis weight of 115 g / m ^{2 having} an irregular fiber arrangement was used. Needle Punching Machine (Needle, Organ, PPD-1 #
In step 40), processing was performed under the condition of a needle density of 40 needles / cm ² to obtain a cotton nonwoven fabric of Example 4. The obtained cotton nonwoven fabric had a density of 80 g / m ² and a bulk density of 0.03 g / cc.

Comparative Example 1 As Comparative Example 1, the basis weight was 30 g / m ² and the bulk density was 0.16 g / m ² .
cc of cotton plain fabric was obtained.

Comparative Example 2 Comparative Example 2 was carried out except that nylon 6 short fibers having a fineness of 2 denier and a fiber length of 38 mm, and a nylon 6 short fiber web having a basis weight of 52 g / m ² , produced by a random card machine, were used. A hydroentanglement treatment was applied under the same conditions as in the example, and a drying treatment was performed to obtain a nylon nonwoven fabric of Comparative Example 2. The resulting nylon nonwoven fabric had a basis weight of 50 g / m ² and a bulk density of 0.08 g / cc.

[0022] Comparative Example 3 Comparative Example 3, the average fineness of 1.5 deniers, with bleached cotton cotton having an average fiber length of 25 mm, a random carding machine, having a basis weight 11g / m ² arrangement of fibers is not uniform cotton A cotton nonwoven fabric of Comparative Example 3 was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a short fiber web was used. The obtained cotton nonwoven fabric has a basis weight of 8
g / m ² and bulk density 0.14 g / cc.

[0023] Comparative Example 4 Comparative Example 4, average fineness of 1.5 deniers, with bleached cotton cotton having an average fiber length of 25 mm, a random carding machine, the basis weight 170 g / m ² arrangement of fibers is not uniform cotton A cotton nonwoven fabric of Comparative Example 4 was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a short fiber web was used. The obtained cotton nonwoven fabric had a basis weight of 120 g / m ² and a bulk density of 0.05 g / cc.

Next, Examples 1 to 4 and Comparative Examples 1 to 4 were obtained.
The tensile strength and water absorption of the nonwoven fabric and the woven fabric of No. 3 were measured, and the results are shown in Table 1.

Next, the cotton nonwoven fabrics of Examples 1 to 4 were cut by using an ultrasonic fusing machine to obtain the sterilized nonwoven fabric for medical instruments of the present invention. The obtained sterilized nonwoven fabric for medical instruments is left after sterilization.
The OG removal was measured. In addition, the nonwoven fabrics and woven fabrics of Comparative Examples 1 to 4 were similarly cut using an ultrasonic fusing machine, and after removing them, residual EOG removal properties were measured. The results are shown in Table 1.

[0026]

[Table 1]

As shown in Table 1, the sterile nonwoven fabrics for medical instruments of the present invention of Examples 1 to 4 have a dense three-dimensional entanglement on both sides and are excellent in both residual EOG removal and water absorption. The nonwoven fabric of Example 3 was excellent in residual EOG removal properties, and the nonwoven fabric of Example 3 was excellent in water absorption. In addition, the woven fabric of Comparative Example 1 is inferior in residual EOG removal properties, the nonwoven fabric of Comparative Example 2 is inferior in both residual EOG removal properties and water absorption, and the nonwoven fabric of Comparative Example 3 is quick but low in residual EOG removal. The nonwoven fabric of Comparative Example 4 was inferior in practical use, and was inferior in residual EOG removal property. Therefore, these comparative examples were not practical.

[0028]

The nonwoven fabric for sterilizing medical devices of the present invention can be subjected to various sterilization treatments, and particularly, the removal of residual EOG after sterilization is fast, and therefore, the handling is safe without being affected by gas. In addition, it has excellent water absorption and hygroscopicity, and can be wiped off water and blood because it has less fluff. In addition, there are advantages such as excellent industrial disposability, easy incineration, and generation of offensive odor and toxic gas.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] Claims: 1. A fiber comprising natural fibers, wherein the constituent fibers are maintained in shape by three-dimensional entanglement, and have a basis weight of 10 to 10.
A nonwoven fabric for sterilizing medical devices, wherein the nonwoven fabric has 0 g / m ² , a bulk density of 0.02 to 0.12 g / cc , and a residual EOG (ethylene oxide gas) removability of 120 hours or less.