Charting The Way Forward For The Stick-To-Skin Industry – Jason Zajac (President, The Tape Lab) Addresses PSTC

Charting The Way Forward For The Stick-To-Skin Industry

During the first week of May (May 2-5), the Pressure Sensitive Tape Council (PSTC) held the inaugural PSTC Tape Week in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

PSTC Tape Week is a lot more than a traditional networking exercise. The primary objective is to unite the Tape Manufacturers with the adhesive makers and engineers of the pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) industry under one roof. The focus is to enable niche-specific knowledge sharing and to provide segmented learning and growth opportunities for PSA professionals.

Our President, Jason Zajac had the honor to speak on the medical stick to skin pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs) and what trends will shape the medical market, more specifically the wearables space in the near to medium-term future.

Let’s explore further.

PSTC – Shaping The American Tape Manufacturing Industry

For the past 60 years, the Pressure Sensitive Tape Council (PSTC) has dedicated its resources to developing a thriving tape manufacturing sector within the United States. It strives to create an enabling environment for North American tape manufacturers and affiliate suppliers, thereby, helping them produce quality pressure-sensitive adhesive tape products in the global marketplace.

Jason Sketches A Thorough Overview Of The Medical Stick-to-Skin Industry

After touching upon common stick-to-skin adhesive applications, Jason elaborated on the core deciding factors while choosing the right PSA and ended by shedding light on the importance of choosing the right converting partner. Let’s dive a bit deeper into each section:

  1. Common Stick-To-Skin Applications: Wearable stick-to-skin products give doctors the freedom to become time and location-independent. Healthcare providers can effortlessly gather vital patient information and take appropriate action from virtually anywhere. More importantly, they offer numerous application options from head to toe including CGM/insulin delivery, ECG/EKG, wearable devices/patient monitors, pulse oximeters​, wound dressings​, wound closures​, adhesive bras​, cosmetic products​, and transdermal patches.
  2. ​Factors For Determining What PSA To Use: The factors that dictate which medical PSA should be chosen include:
    1. Wear Time: Depending on the patient’s needs, stick-to-skin products can be worn anywhere for a couple of days to several weeks. For short-term usage, the core adhesive components are silicones, rubbers, hydrogels​, and hydrocolloids. And the backing should be foams, TPE​, PE film​, and PET.​ Stick-to-product intended for long-term use should have adhesives made from solvent acrylics and UV cured acrylics. And the backings should either be PU film​ or non-woven PET/ PU.​ ​
    2. Moisture Management: Stick-to-skin devices are designed to be compatible with the user’s daily lifestyle. That means it must stand up to sweat, bodily fluids, and external moisture. For enhanced absorption hydrocolloids and absorbent foams should be utilized. And when it comes to breathability, materials such as PU film backings, non-woven backings, and perforated PSAs​ have consistently delivered the desired results. ​ ​
    3. Skin Irritation: The slightest irritation can compel the wearer to abandon the device, thereby, defeating its entire purpose. Factors such as the wearer’s age, local climate, daily activity volume, device placement on the body and product wear time all equally impact the irritation level. Adhesive materials such as acrylic, rubber, silicone, and hydrogels offer the right balance for eliminating irritation. For the backing, the preferred material choices are PU/ PET/ PE film, on-wovens​, PE Foams​ , and cloth​. ​
    4. Clarity of backing Material & PSA​: Backing is the carrier to which the PSA layer is laminated. Moreover, it dictates the way the tape behaves and ensures that the skin has breathability. Applications include wound dressings, NPWT, cover tapes, and shower tapes. Materials such as PU film, PET film​, and PE films are used for an optically clear backing.
    5. Material Availability & Strong Supplier Partnerships: What sets The Tape Lab apart is its rock-solid supply chain. We enjoy strong relationships with leading material manufacturers in the medical adhesive space. Our partners include 3M, Avery Dennison, Berry Plastics, Adhesive Applications and Polymer Science. This ensures immediate material access and enables us to design and produce customized medical adhesive solutions far quicker and cheaper than most of our competitors.
  3. The Right Conversion Partner: No business, healthcare, or otherwise can survive without undisputed integrity. The easiest way to ensure that is by choosing a seasoned material converting partner that brings to the table extensive research and development capabilities. The Tape Lab checks all of these boxes:
    1. Unquestionable Credibility & Extensive Adhesive-Specific Experience: The Tape Lab has over 18 years of research & manufacturing experience in the stick-to-skin medical tech space. Some of the largest names in the industry have entrusted us with developing adhesive solutions for their flagship continuous health monitors. We’re supremely confident we can meet and exceed your expectations as well.
    2. A Wide Range OF Stick-To-Skin Products: The Tape Lab currently offers 11 individual categories for stick-to-skin products and 6 categories for wearable medical products. Our range includes but is not limited to adhesive bras, boob tape, CBD adhesive patches, fashion tape, wearable device tape, and diagnostic tape. You can explore our full product range over here. No matter what you have in mind, you’ll find it under one roof with The Tape Lab.
    3. The Ability To Customize & Unrivaled Engineering Expertise: The Tape Lab excels in every facet of medical adhesive design and manufacturing. Our core competencies include designing the tapes, die-cutting the patches, layer lamination, customizing the liner releases, and full-service OEM assembly. This gives us the scale and production capacity that will empower you to bring your product to market quicker and cheaper than your competition.

Next Step – Book A Free Consultation

Looking for a full-service tape converter and adhesives specialist? Contact The Tape Lab today. Our experts will schedule an obligation-free call and explain how we can put our full suite of converting services to work for you.

The importance of choosing the right adhesive for stick-to-skin medical devices

medical wearable device

Producers of stick-to-skin medical devices have to make a lot of choices as they work to bring products from design concept to commercial production. But one of the most important decisions involves your choice of adhesive material. Because the adhesive you use has a direct impact on patient comfort and product performance, it’s critical you weigh your options carefully and find a partner that can help guide your selection. Here are some of the top considerations in choosing stick-to-skin adhesive materials and how the right medical converting partner can help improve product design.

How does the adhesive manage moisture?

Perhaps the most important factor for medical wearable devices is moisture management. Adhesive materials have a variety of ways to manage bodily fluids like sweat, oil, blood and others. The two most common forms of moisture management are fluid absorption (where the adhesive actually takes on the moisture and holds it away from the skin) and moisture-vapor transmission (where tiny holes in the adhesive material allow moisture to evaporate). Both kinds of materials have advantages for different applications.

However, you need to consider the design and construction of the entire device. A breathable adhesive that allows fluids to evaporate won’t be suitable if materials in outer layers of the product prevent moisture transmission. A converting partner can help you think holistically about your materials and design needs and make recommendations to ensure consistent product performance.

Is the adhesive material skin-friendly?

It’s an issue faced by every producer of stick-to-skin medical devices: The adhesive needs to be strong enough to stay securely fixed as the patient moves, but it also needs to limit skin irritation as much as possible. This is particularly important for devices designed for patients who may have more sensitive skin or where maceration is of particular concern.

Using 2-in-1 products can help solve this problem as they feature different adhesive materials for the skin-contact layer and construction layer, or tie-layer. However, you’ll need to make sure these materials work in harmony as different adhesives can sometimes be incompatible. An experienced converter can advise your engineers on how to find the perfect balance to ensure product performance and patient comfort.

Does it offer optical clarity?

Do medical professionals need to be able to visually inspect the application site without fully removing the device? If so, you’ll need an adhesive that offers visual clarity while maintaining the integrity of the device. This is also important in situations where light sensing is required. Medical converters can make suggestions for adhesives that offer both strength and visual clarity.

How long is the product wear time?

Is the product designed for long wear times (up to three weeks) or short-term use (less than 30 minutes)? The longevity of the finished product is directly tied to your adhesive selection, making the material you choose a critical component of the product’s end use. Engineers and converters should collaborate to select adhesive materials that match the intended wear time.

Is the material scalable?

As you look to gain market share with new products, you need to make sure that every aspect of production is scalable to meet your growing need. That includes your adhesive. So, you want to make sure your selection will not only be available in large enough quantities, but you also need to make sure your converting partner is capable of converting materials at scale. This means they have strong partnerships with materials suppliers and have the production means to ramp up quickly and provide fast turnaround from design concept to prototype to commercial production.

The adhesive materials you choose for stick-to-skin medical devices have a direct impact on product performance, patient comfort and your ability to produce products at scale. This is why you need to consider all factors carefully when making decisions on materials. An experienced medical converter can use their expertise to help guide your selection of adhesives and create products that make an impact in the medical market.

Looking for a converting partner that can help bring medical devices to life with consistent quality and speed? Contact The Tape Lab to see how our experienced team can help you convert your ideas into powerful products.