Medical, Health & Hygiene

The company STBL Medical Research AG has developed a device that can be worn on the wrist and records the blood pressure continuously. The measurement is carried out by several sensors which simultaneously measure the contact pressure, pulse and blood flow on the surface of the skin in the vicinity of the wrist. The new sensor designed as an alternative to the pressure cuffs and invasive monitoring involving a catheter inserted into the artery, is as big as a wristwatch.

Suominen, a leader in nonwovens for wipes, is to invest approximately EUR 2.5 million in the capacity expansion at one of its assets at the Windsor Locks plant in Connecticut, USA. The investment increases Suominen’s capacity to produce value added nonwovens products, particularly for the growing segment of flushable products.

Around 40,000 visitors from 113 countries attended Techtextil and Texprocess trade fair duo last week to find out about the latest innovations and trends. A total of 1,652 exhibitors from 56 nations presented their latest products and innovations. “Techtextil and Texprocess have once again set new records,” said Detlef Braun, member of the executive board of Messe Frankfurt, commenting on the results of the textile trade-fair double. “With an increase of 15% compared to the previous events, the two leading trade fairs confirmed the worldwide significance of technical textiles and textile-processing machinery”, he added. The events focusing on technical textiles combined various aspects of the industry from light to very heavy materials – from functional garments, via car seats and safety belts, to aircraft interiors.

The garment making-up industry has always been the labour-intensive ‘bottleneck’ of the conventional textile chain, despite attempts such as the Leapfrog EU7 project to streamline and automate all of its processes into a single-line system.

Clariant, a leader in specialty chemicals, presents advanced solutions for technical textiles at Techtextil 2013, under a slogan ‘effects that perform and chemistry that cares’. The company will focus on three key areas – repellence & release, flame retardancy, and stability & resistance with the new solutions formulated to promote processes and products with improved environmental benefits for technical textiles.

Seven large companies in east Netherlands have formed industrial partnerships with the aim of accelerating technological innovations relating to new high-tech materials, products and systems and of rolling these out in international markets. The promoter of this collaboration is the recently established foundation AMMON (Advanced Materials Manufacturing Oost-Nederland). The provinces of Overijssel and Gelderland in the Netherlands have welcomed this focused mode of industrial collaboration and have created favourable conditions by supporting the construction of demonstrators and by becoming a launch customer.

Schoeller owned Eschler Textil will showcase its wide range of warp knitted products alongside new developments in areas such as medical, 3D and velcro textiles at this week’s Techtextil trade fair for technical textiles in Frankfurt.

Techtextil hits a record number of exhibitors as it is due to open on the 11 June, while the exhibition running alongside, Texprocess, has confirmed its position as the leading international trade fair for cutting-edge textile-processing technologies. The two international venues for the textile sector Techtextil and Texprocess are set to open their doors next week with 1,648 exhibitors, an increase of 123 exhibitors over the previous events. “All in all, our trade-fair duo at Frankfurt Fair and Exhibition Centre offers the world’s biggest range of technical textiles, nonwovens and textile-processing technologies”, said Detlef Braun, member of the executive board of Messe Frankfurt.

The recently held International Nonwovens Symposium, held in Saint Petersburg, Russia, was strongly supported by the international nonwovens industry, especially companies based in Russia and the CIS markets. It was the first time EDANA organised the symposium outside Western Europe. Among 250 delegates, there were 158 organisations present from 26 different countries, including 97 Russian delegates from 71 different companies.

Kraton Performance Polymers, a leading producer of styrenic block copolymers and other engineered polymers will present its Nexar polymer coatings at Techtextil trade fair, June 11-13 in Frankfurt, Germany. "We want to capitalise on the momentum of the recent commercial success of Nexar polymers by continuing the conversation with textile industry leaders about how Nexar‘s moisture activated cooling technology is a real game changer," said Holger Jung, vice president sales and marketing.