Introduction
Hospitals produce tons of waste medical consumables everyday which are made of plastics and synthetic materials. These materials take years and decades for decomposing posing significant danger to the environment. Taking in consideration this problem, medical industry is shifting towards biodegradable and smart consumables.
What is the need for changing the materials of consumables?
As the traditional consumables are made of materials which take longer time to decompose, there is a need for eco-friendly and biodegradable materials. The future innovations should focus on:
- Smart consumables to enhance patient care which give real- time data.
- Biodegradable materials to reduce the medical waste
- Ensuring patient safety by making consumables of antimicrobial materials.
Biodegradable medical consumables
These consumables degrade naturally reducing pollution. Some biodegradable consumables are:
- Plant based consumables- Consumables made of sugarcane are used in sutures, bandages; natural biopolymer is used to make wound dressings.
- Biodegradable gloves and PPE- Latex and nitrile gloves are not easy to decompose, therefore biodegradable gloves are in use which can degrade in months. Eco-friendly face masks and gowns are being developed to reduce PPE waste.
- Compostables syringes and IV sets: Syringes and IV sets are being made of biodegradable plastics resulting in reduced medical waste.
Smart medical consumables
These consumables use sensors and AI for real-time monitoring, to enhance patient care and faster healing.
- Temperature regulating and drug releasing bandages are being developed for better patient care
- pH sensitive bandages can change color is they detect infection. This helps doctors in early detection of infections.
- Wearable consumables are in trend which provide real time patient data to doctors.
Conclusion
The future of medical consumables involves biodegradable and smart materials ensuring sustainable environment and better patient care. It is now a necessity to innovate in this area to promote better patient care and a greener planet.