Avery Dennison Medical Products More Than Simple Adhesives

How much thought do you give to tape—simple adhesive?

If you’re a designer at Avery Dennison, you give it a lot of thought. And it certainly isn’t simple.

For about 25 years, medical products were rolled into other divisions within the Pasadena, Calif.-based multinational labeling giant. Nearly two years ago, however, company leadership decided to pursue a more aggressive growth strategy and separate it’s medical business as a standalone unit called Avery Dennison Medical Solutions, according to Colleen Ward, global director of marketing at Avery Dennison’s Medical Products Division.

“Our [medical] business has evolved,” Ward told MedicalDeviceNow during the Medica 2011 trade fair held Nov. 16-19 in Dusseldorf, Germany. “It’s become a focus of the company to grow its healthcare offerings.”

The company’s previous model had been to support device OEMs that required an adhesive interface for their products—particularly in the surgical, stoma, wound care and dialysis markets. That remains the first part of two-pronged strategy, Ward explained. The second part of the new structure includes developing its own line of products for the healthcare marketplace.

“We’re not abandoning our traditional business model,” she said. “We’re adding to it and making it stronger.”

Part of the company’s new approach is its own brand of securement products sold under the BeneHold brand name. The line currently consists of medical tape strips, a tube fixation device and transparent film dressing.

The tape strips come in perforated sheets that allow right-sizing of tape. Each tape strip is equipped with handling tabs that make it easier to apply and reduce the transmission of bacteria in the healthcare setting. Traditionally, nurses would use a roll of tape carried around in a pocket and then tear off pieces as needed—patient after patient—which isn’t the most sanitary or efficient method. Compared with conventional roll tapes, the tape strips can offer protection against the spread of infection. Rolls of medical tape are often left on counters, used on multiple patients, shared among clinicians and applied without gloved hands.

Ward cited a recent study that demonstrated that 74 percent of tape specimens collected from one hospital were colonized by pathogenic bacteria. In 41 percent of the samples, the bacterial colonies were too numerous to count.

The sheet format helps to alleviate the risk by allowing clinicians to customize the amount of tape used for each patient or procedure, helping reduce tape sharing between patients and clinicians. The sheet format also eliminates roll tapes’ sticky edges, which can trap fuzz and contaminants.

Current regulations state that items that cannot be cleaned and disinfected (such as adhesive tape) should be dedicated for use only on a single patient. Because the tape strips come in sheet form, dialysis nurses can take a dedicated amount of tape per procedure into the patient care area, ensuring efficient compliance with regulatory guidelines.

The tube fixation line secures—of course—tubes, but also lines, drains, catheters and cords in one device, minimizing the need for hospitals to purchase multiple tube fixation products for specific applications. The bandage-shaped device uses an absorbent, breathable hydrocolloid adhesive that helps prevent skin maceration and irritation. The device’s hook and loop closure system permits the repositioning of single or multiple tubes and cords without having to remove and reapply the device or tape to the patient. The system can be opened and closed repeatedly without damage to the device or the patient’s skin, allowing wear up to seven days. Clinicians can choose permanent or temporary fixation either by enclosing tubes in the built-in adhesive zone or leaving the zone closed. Like a bandage, each one is individually packaged and sterilized to reduce concerns about contamination and infection, and is suitable for use in sterile environments.

Applications include IV catheter lines, epidural lines, Foley catheter lines, endotracheal and gastric nasal tubes, chest tubes, urinary drainage tubes, ostomy and surgical drain lines, negative pressure wound therapy tubes, and multiple lines on a patient or in a surgical field.

The company’s line of transparent film dressing consists of a thin transparent polyurethane film and transparent latex-free acrylic adhesive that allow clinicians to continuously observe a catheter site or wound and ensure conformability. The breathable film acts as a waterproof barrier to external contaminants, but allows oxygen and moisture vapor exchange to prevent moisture build-up beneath the dressing, facilitating a moist environment for wound healing and autolytic debridement. The dressing’s adhesive ensures securement but also allows low-trauma removal.

The dressing has a simple window frame construction. The bottom liner is easily removed prior to application. The top paper frame provides handling tabs that aid in dressing application. The paper frame also provides added stability to the dressing to prevent it from folding onto itself during application. The paper frame is easily removed once the dressing is applied.

Dressings are individually packaged and gamma sterilized. Applications include covering and protecting catheter sites and minor wounds.

Ward said a lot of research went into determining clinical need and turning into a improvement for caregivers and patients.

“We received direct input from end-users and focus groups,” Ward said. “We’ve done a lot of research in the marketplace, specifically with nurses and infection control professionals.”

When doing research for its new line of tape strips, designers even went so far as to research a standard “pull length,” nurses use when pulling and ripping tape from traditional adhesive rolls.

Most of the company’s products are manufacturerd at facilities in Ohio and Belgium, Ward noted.

As for what’s new at Medica, making its debut at the show was the company’s InteliShield barrier film for ostomy applications. Notably, the film is PVC, PVdC and plasticizer-free, which can be less damaging to the environment than traditional films and offers more cost-effective disposal of intermediate scrap. The film has an antimicrobial inner surface that helps to control odor, while additional layers provide enhanced strength and secure bonding.

Also rolled out during Medica was the Thin Absorbent Skin Adhesive. The platform’s initial offering is the MED 5567A, an acrylic coated polyurethane film on a polyester release liner. According to company officials, the breathability and high absorbency of the material provides improved fluid handling capabilities than current commercial products. These properties make MED 5567A ideal for a wide variety of applications, such as backing material for electrodes, wound dressings and ostomy flanges, as well as applications that require direct wound contact.

Both the InteliShield and MED 5567A are offered to OEM customers as part of their product development efforts.

As far as next moves for the company, Ward said 2012 would bring new developments for its Metria line of wearable sensor technology, which is intended to provide secure and low-profile physiological monitoring for a variety of consumer or clinical applications.