Medical linen with regionally imprinted performance areas

Abstract

A medical gown and drape are disclosed in which regions thereof are imprinted with performance enhancing coatings. The gown has regions in the chest and sleeve areas imprinted with a liquid repellent coating to protect the wearer from fluids. The drape preferably has an absorbent or super absorbent coating surrounding a fenestration through which an operation may occur. The drape may also have regions coated with water repellent or friction enhancing materials. The gown further has adhesive closures rather than ties.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A medical linen comprising: 
 a fabric substrate; and    a coating printed on one or more regions of the substrate, said coating modifying a performance characteristic of the fabric substrate.    
     
     
         2 . A medical linen according to    claim 1    selected from the group consisting of: a medical gown and a medical drape.  
     
     
         3 . A medical linen according to    claim 1    wherein the substrate comprises a nonwoven fabric.  
     
     
         4 . A medical linen according to    claim 1    wherein the coating modifies the performance of the substrate in a manner selected from the list consisting of: increasing the liquid repellency of the substrate, increasing the friction of the substrate and enhancing the liquid absorbing capacity of the substrate.  
     
     
         5 . A medical linen according to    claim 1    comprising a medical gown comprising a body covering portion and sleeves extending from the body portion to terminate in cuffs, wherein said one or more regions comprises a central operative area of said body covering portion and further comprises portions of said sleeves adjacent said cuffs and wherein said coating is liquid impervious.  
     
     
         6 . A medical linen according to    claim 5    wherein said coating comprises polyvinylchloride plastisol.  
     
     
         7 . A medical linen according to    claim 5    wherein the gown further comprises one or more areas coated with a repellency enhancing material to raise the repellency in said one or more areas to at least 20 cm of static head.  
     
     
         8 . A medical linen according to    claim 1    comprising a medical drape having a fenestration therethrough.  
     
     
         9 . A medical linen according to    claim 8    wherein the coating absorbs water and is positioned adjacent the fenestration.  
     
     
         10 . A medical linen according to    claim 9    wherein the coating comprises an acrylic acid based absorbent material.  
     
     
         11 . A method for making a medical linen having a fabric substrate with a region having differing performance characteristics than the substrate comprising the step of applying and adhering a fluid substance to said region to form a coating thereon, said coating having a differing performance characteristic from the substrate.  
     
     
         12 . A method according to    claim 11    and further comprising the step of forming the substrate into a medical gown having sleeves and a body portion and wherein the region comprises at least a portion of the sleeves and an area on the body at a chest of a wearer thereof, and wherein the coating is water repellent.  
     
     
         13 . A method according to    claim 11    and further comprising the step of forming the substrate into a medical drape.  
     
     
         14 . A method according to    claim 13    and further comprising the step of forming a fenestration through the drape and wherein the coating comprises an absorbent material and is applied adjacent to the fenestration.