With huge varieties of fabrics, the first challenge for any performance evaluation is to categorize the vast types of the products into fewer, more homogeneous and thus akin groups. Classification or sorting is arguably the first step of any scientific investigation, and comparison of product quality is meaningful only when conducted within a group of comparable products. A new criterion termed...

The antimicrobial efficacy of an adhesive drape applied after a 1-minute alcohol scrub was compared to a povidone-iodine (PI) skin preparation technique in dogs. Each technique was applied to both sides of 15 adult anesthetized dogs on premeasured, clipped areas of skin. Skin bacteria were quantified before, immediately after, and 1 hour after skin preparation. Predominant skin bacteria were is...

INTRODUCTION Surgical site infection (SSI) is a serious complication after cardiac surgery; skin preparation is an important step in the prevention of wound contamination with skin flora. In this study, two different skin preparation strategies (standard povidine iodine cleaning plus plain adhesive drape and microbial sealant (InteguSeal, Kimberly-Clark Health Care, Roswell, GA, USA) were compa...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to evaluate a novel disposable lead-free radiation protection drape for decreasing radiation scatter during electrophysiology procedures. BACKGROUND In recent years, there has been an exponential increase in the number of electrophysiology (EP) procedures exposing patients, operators and laboratory staff to higher radiation doses. METHODS The RADPAD w...

Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) provides proven wound healing benefits and is often a desirable wound treatment methodology. Unfortunately, NPWT devices are not widely available in low-resource settings. To overcome the identified NPWT barriers, a simplified NPWT (sNPWT) system was designed and iteratively improved during field-based testing. The sNPWT technology, our device design itera...

PURPOSE To evaluate the clinical use of a newly-developed disposable lid speculum with a drape. METHODS LiDrape® is a cylindrical device that consists of two flexible rings of polyacetal resin with a transparent elastic silicone sheet attached to the rings. The novel device holds the eyelids between the rings, and a hole in the center of the device provides a surgical field. We used the novel...

A double curved nasal endotracheal tube has been incorporated into a standard head drape [or improved access and visibility when providing dental treatment [or the young patient under general anesthesia. The technique [or stabilization o[ the airway to provide sa[ety and protection o[ the patient is described in detail. This method has been used successfully [or over 100 dental patients. All pa...