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New Curriculum in Medical Textiles

Martin W. King, Professor of
Biotextiles and Textile Technology

When considering new directions for the College of Textiles' undergraduate curriculum, there is a recognised need to focus on more specialized, higher value-added textile products and technologies. One such area is the field of medical textiles, which includes a wide variety of applications from first-aid bandages and wound dressings, orthotic devices, support hose and other clothing that is used for the rehabilitation of injuries (Figure 1), to hospital linens and drapes, barrier fabrics, protective clothing and operating room scrubs (Figure 2). Other novel end-uses include surgically implantable biotextiles, such as sutures, hernia repair fabrics (Figure 3), arterial prostheses and anterior cruciate ligaments.

This area of research and teaching is of particular interest to a number of faculty members at the College of Textiles, and, under Dean Godfrey's leadership, the College is in the process of initiating a new medical textiles concentration within the existing undergraduate programs. The curriculum will be accessible to students in the various current programs by creating three separate tracks under the titles: "Medical Textiles" (applications outside the body), "Biotextiles" (devices implanted inside the body), and "Healthcare Product Management" (the supply chain in a regulatory environment). These tracks will enable students to focus on medical textiles regardless of whether they are registered in textile technology, textile chemistry, textile engineering or textile and apparel management.

Dr. Martin W. King
College of Textiles, Box 8301
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-8301
Telephone: (919) 515-1011
Fax: (919) 513-3733
Martin_King@ncsu.edu

The Medical Textiles Steering Committee is working closely with other colleges at NCSU in order to ensure that the new courses complement existing university programs, such as biomedical engineering. In addition, the Committee is seeking input from a number of potential industrial and business partners in the textile, soft goods, pharmaceutical and biomedical industries, as well as in the heathcare and government sectors. It is anticipated that students exposed to this curriculum will have a wider range of employment opportunities when they graduate.

It is believed that this is the very first medical textiles curriculum to be offered as part of a university bachelor's degree program. The first year of this four year curriculum is planned to start in Fall 2002.

College of Textiles
P.O. Box 8301
Raleigh, NC 27695-8301
Telephone: (919) 515-6646
FAX: (919) 515-3733
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Last Site Revision:
February 9, 2006