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Pressure Sensitive Adhesives

Pressure Sensitive Adhesives

Why pressure sensitive adhesives are integral to making sure all kinds of skin are cared for with wound care product manufacturers. 

No two people’s skin is the same: the body’s largest organ is also the most varied in terms of uniqueness, offering up birthmarks, freckles, the absence or abundance of hair, and even the gold standard for identification: the fingerprint. The expression ‘skin-deep’ has always seemed a misnomer to us because the diversity and knowledge to be gained through skin is boundless.

Skin, however, can be fragile. Even though ‘thick-skinned’ is another expression we have adopted, the truth is that skin is rarely built for anything more than a graze. It is easy to pierce, puncture, slice, scrape, cut, burn, or even scar the skin. As such, wound dressings have been around for as long as the scraped knee – since essentially the dawn of human existence.

However, as the diversity of skin types and conditions have indicated, sometimes the best way to treat a wound when applying a dressing to a patch of skin can be a whole other problem. Skin, of course, is an organ, and thus functions optimally without intervention. When using a wound healing product, so many different things must be taken into consideration: is it breathable? How tight is it to the skin? Will the adhesive do damage upon removal? How long must it be on the skin?

This is why pressure sensitive adhesives (PSAs) are integral in biomedical products. PSAs are essentially bandages with adhesive properties – and what distinguishes PSAs from your run-of-the-mill plaster is the technology that has been filtered into the adhesive component of the PSA. The adhesive is the part that attaches the dressing to the skin, so emphasis has been put here to make sure the best and most adaptable conditions for the skin are prioritised in the adhesive.

PSAs are tested for performance and are measured through their peel, tack, and shear. These three components are essentially how easily the adhesive is peeled off, the force needed to remove it once placed, and the time it takes to remove the adhesive. However, while the scientific method is integral to giving a baseline of how each adhesive will function, this testing method can only go so far because, as we have said, our skin is not the same.

Younger people’s skin is more elastic, better able to withstand damage compared to older people’s skin, which becomes frailer, thinner, and has a higher chance of tearing, even with a seemingly innocuous advanced wound care product. The risk of medical adhesive-related skin injuries (MARSIs) becomes higher depending on your age, your health, your fitness levels, and even external factors like weather or clothing.

The long and the short of it is that wound care product manufacturing is a difficult, intricate process, but PSAs are a technology on the rise. There are a few different popular PSAs being manufactured in new wound care products right now, including synthetic rubber, silicone, and acrylic adhesives – cheaper and more flexible alternatives that are superseding the thicker, less malleable traditional hydrocolloid/hydrogels that most people are used to.

If you are considering PSAs, having a dedicated team that understands all of the elements that goes into not just manufacturing them, but also designing, researching, developing, prototyping, and selecting them is a massive leg up. That is what you get with PolarSeal.

PolarSeal is a company that has had to understand and overcome the various challenges associated with balancing important adhesion with skin health in wound dressings, and we have come to achieve a fine balance. Whatever your specifications for PSAs, whether it is starting with an R&D prototype or moving into full-fledged production, PolarSeal’s experience and adaptability can guarantee the right PSA for the market you are targeting.

Skin is difficult to predict, and no two people’s skin will be the same – so even though there are some old skin-based adages that we have disproven above, none ring quite as true as to imagine yourself in someone else’s skin. Don’t hesitate to contact polarseal today to discuss PSAs and how we can help you with them.