Textiles benefit medical industry

September 1, 2008  |  Advanced Textiles, Features

Flexibility, strength and adaptability are bringing textiles to the forefront of patient care, and concerns about safety are inspiring use beyond the hospital By Holly O’Dell Medical textiles present a wide variety of opportunities for manufacturers and applications for end users. As its name …
Read More
Innovative fire-retardant fabrics

September 1, 2008  |  Advanced Textiles, Markets

Innovations in fire-retardant fibers and fabric products are keeping people and structures safer. By Julie Young Fire-retardant fabrics protect people in a diverse range of occupations, including military personnel, racecar drivers, industrial workers, special effects technicians and, of course, fir…
Read More
French Army soldiers wear protective fabric

September 1, 2008  |  Advanced Textiles, Industry News

Rugged meta-aramid fibers, all-temperature protection and fire resistance sold the French Army on protective clothing from the Kermel® Co., Comar Cedex, France. The first battalions will be equipped with Kermel’s V50 summer and VMC40 winter camouflage battledress in late 2008 following suc…
Read More
Protective garment testing lab opens at NCSU

September 1, 2008  |  Advanced Textiles, Industry News

A test laboratory for protective garments worn by chemical and biological incident responders opened in July at North Carolina State University’s College of Textiles. Funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense, the Man-in-Simulant Test (MIST) facility grand opening included tours, live …
Read More
Aerostat system provides mobile aerial platform

August 1, 2008  |  Advanced Textiles, Projects

[Aerostar International Inc.] Sioux Falls, S.D., U.S.A The TIF-25K Tethered Aerostat System, which took its maiden voyage in September 2007, provides an easy-to-use, mobile aerial platform that can be deployed within hours of arrival on site. The aerostat body consists of a proprietary nylon-based f…
Read More
U.S. Army base camp uses rapid deploying tent systems

August 1, 2008  |  Advanced Textiles, Projects, Tents

[Vertigo Inc.] Lake Elsinore, Calif., U.S.A. [Outdoor Venture Corp.] Stearns, Ky., U.S.A. Vertigo’s rapid deploying tent systems with AirBeam™ technology are replacing the aluminum frame TEMPER tents used in Force Provider, the U.S. Army’s premier base camp. Force Provider’s Expeditionary Ba…
Read More
Mosquito-proof netting reduces infant mortality

August 1, 2008  |  Advanced Textiles, Products

Malaria kills more than one million people each year, most of them children under five years old. Mosquito nets help, but don’t prevent insects from transmitting malaria through biting a sleeping person through the net. BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany, a chemical company long interested in malaria …
Read More
Study examines transfer of substances from textiles into skin

August 1, 2008  |  Advanced Textiles, Projects

Drug-delivery systems such as nicotine patches are designed to transfer substances from textiles into skin. The Hohensteiner Institute, Bönnigheim, Germany, studied various microcapsule depot structures with regard to mechanical strength, capacity to release substances in continuous and controllabl…
Read More
Molecular manipulation to change the textile industry

July 1, 2008  |  Advanced Textiles, Business, Features

Would you like to have shirts that don’t get dirty? What if the milk that spilled in your minivan never smelled? Wouldn’t it be convenient if the seats in your boat couldn’t mildew? And imagine the value of a surgical mask that actually kills germs, rather than simply preventing them from bein…
Read More
Concrete Cloth applications may save lives

July 1, 2008  |  Advanced Textiles, Markets, Products, Tents

A pair of young British engineers were hoping for some design competition money when they began brainstorming new uses for concrete. In the end, their innovation—Concrete Cloth—may already be saving lives. Peter Brewin and William Crawford were studying for post-graduate degrees in London in 200…
Read More