Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10397/85589
Title: The development of textiles for paraplegic and quadriplegic patients in paediatric hospitals
Authors: Kwok, Hoi Ni
Degree: M.Phil.
Issue Date: 2012
Abstract: The thesis is concerned with a user-oriented approach in accordance with the product development process to design and develop textile materials for bedding and clothing for paraplegic and quadriplegic patients in paediatric hospitals. Problems related to comfort sensation and handling issues are found in the hospital patients' bedding and clothing which are offered to the child patients aged 16 and under in the Developmental Disabilities Unit (DDU) of Caritas Medical Centre (CMC), Hong Kong, China. Special requirements of the patients' bedding and clothing including comfort, good moisture management property, anti-bacterial property, safety and durability were established with reference to the literature research; supervised hospital visitation and observation as well as questionnaire survey distributed to the patients' guardians and the professional medical personnel. Sixteen different fabrics were initially designed and developed by means of various yarn combinations and weave structures according to the yarns' beneficial functions so as to meet the established requirements of the products. The fabrics were then evaluated by a series of experimental tests. An indexing method was adopted for fabric evaluation by combining both objective and subjective measurements.
The 2/2 twill fabric with the weft Nu-Torque cotton yarns was selected for the patients' bedding prototype by the professional medical personnel and the project team members. Furthermore, the 2/1 twill weft backed fabric with the weft Coolmax yarns and Nu-Torque cotton yarns was also selected for the patients' clothing prototype. The anti-bacterial property was achieved by the application of anti-bacterial finishing. The anti-bacterial property was evaluated by anti-bacterial tests to be suitably applied to the new prototypes of the patients' bedding and clothing. The final bedding and clothing prototypes were then evaluated by a series of tests related to the requirements of comfort, moisture management property, safety and durability. The experimental results obtained were compared with the current hospital patients' bedding and clothing before the user trial in the hospital. It was found that the newly developed bedding and clothing prototypes were suitable with better performance than the current ones. The performance of the newly developed bedding and clothing prototypes was also evaluated through the user trial in the hospital. The skin temperature of the patients was measured during the user trial. As a result, there was a great improvement of the newly developed bedding and clothing prototypes when compared with the current ones. The results of the skin temperature measurement indicated that the skin temperature of the subjects was more consistent using the newly developed bedding and clothing than the current hospital bedding and clothing.
Subjects: Textile fabrics.
Biomedical materials.
Medical supplies.
Paraplegics -- Care.
Quadriplegics -- Care.
Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations
Pages: xiv, 218 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm.
Appears in Collections:Thesis

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