CA2078886A1 - Rubber glovers, their manufacture and use - Google Patents

Abstract

2078886 9213497 PCTABS00014 A medical glove which may be donned by a dry or damp hand comprises a microtextured medical glove, provided on its inside surface with a surfactant and/or silicone. The microtextured glove is preferably a chlorinated medical glove which has been treated with polydimethyl siloxane hexyldecyl pyridinium or sodium lauryl sulphate, or a mixture of two of these materials.

Description

W O 92/13497 2 ~ 7 ~ ~ 3 6 P(~r/GB92/00171 RUBBER GLOVES, T~EIR MANUFACTURE AND USE
, Back~round to the Invention Medical personnel such as doctors, nurses, paramedics and the like and especially surgeons, frequently us~ natural rubber gloves to protect their patients and themselves from potential bac~erioloyical or viral contamination. &loves of this type will be referred to herein as 1'medical gloves" for the sake of convenience.

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A lony standing problem with medical gloves is that they can be diffisult to don. In order to mitigate this difficulty it has been a long standing practice to powder the gloves so that the hand slips more easl~y into the glove. -Howe~er, a number of medical authorities and a number of glove users are dissatisfied with the use of powder as a donning aid.
This dissatis~action stems from practical difficulties such as the occasional need to remove excess powder after donning and from concerns that some powders could le~d to granulomas in some circumstances.

In order to provide medical gloves that could be easily donned without recourse to powder the art has , provided two main and very different types of solu~ion.
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WO92/13497 -. - 2 - PCT/GB92/0017l The first solution is to employ a natural rubber that has been treated with chlorine so that the medical glove is more easily donned. The alternative solution is to bond a layer of synthetic polymer to the inside (that is wearer contacting surface) of the medical : :
glove and thereby render it more easily donned. ..

Examples of chlorinated medical gloves are given in US Patent No. 4304008 and examples of providing a layer of synthetic polymer on medical gloves are given . , in US Patents Nos. 3813695, 4482577, 4499154, 4548844, :... .
4575476, 3856561, 3919442, 3967014, 4027060, 40a2~62, 3286011 and 3411982. ~.
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It can be difficult and expensive to provide .:
medical gloves that employ a layer of synthetic polymer t~at.is well bonded to the natural.rubber and is .;
sufficiently lubricious to dispense wlth the need for -;
powders. The provision of such layers also tend~ to ;
require the u~ of organic solvents with their associated hazards.

Chlorinated medical gloves can be manufactured without the use of organic solvents and have found widespread use. Unfortunately such gloves are only easily donned if the hands are dry and many users (in particular many surgeons) have damp hands at the point : , : . .
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where they will don the gloves (for example, a surgeon~s hands will still be damp following having scrubbed with an antibacterial agent). This severely limits the use of chlorinated medical glo~es.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a medical glove that avoids the need to e~ploy an inside layer of synthetic poly~er over the natural rubber but which is still readily donable by the dry or damp hand without the recourse to powders.

Summarv of the Invention -The present invention provides a medical glove that is readily donable by the dry or damp hand without requiring an inside layer of synthetic polymier or a powder. The medical glove according to the present inventi~n co~prises a microtexture~-~edi~al glove provid~d on the inside sur~ace with one or both of a surfactant or a silicone. When used herein the term ~1crotextured means that the glove surfa~e has been roughened, for example by treatment with halogen or an acid (see for example "Surface Treat~ent of Rubber to Reduce Friction" by A D Roberts and C A Brackley in J
Nat Rubb Res 4(l), 1-21).
,, . ' Detailed Descri tion of the_Invention ~ -The present invention provides a medical glove '~ ` ' '~::
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WO92~1~97 ~ 4 - PCT/GB92/00171 '1~''' ; .
which may be donned by the dry or damp hand which comprises a microtextured medical glove the inside surface of which is provided with one or both of a .
surfactant or a silicone. :

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The microtextured glove may be microtextured on the inside only or on both the inside and the outside.
.. .: , The microtextured medical gloves for use in the invention may be obtained by treating the surface of a glove by halogenation, or an acid (especially an ;~
oxidising acid). Most suitably the microtextured ;;
mediGal glove is a halogenated medical glove. ~' Preferably the microtextured medical glove is a `
chlorinated medical glove.

. .~ne o~..th~.adv.antages of.empl~ying chlorinated medical gloves is th~t they will be familiar to many users as a number of excellent com~ercial ~hlorinated gloves are already available such as Ansell's Powder ;
Free, Sensotech G204 from LRC and Pristine from Fuji Latex and Perry Style 47 from Smith & Nephew Perry.
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(These commercially available gloves have ~ood '.
dry hand donning properties but of course lack the desirable da~p hand donni~g properties of the gloves of the present invention).

~ ': ' 2~ ~'8 ~3 j The gloves of the present invention are most suitably surgeons gloves.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that in a preferred aspect the present invent:ion provides a medical glove which may be donned by the dry or damp hand which comprises a ehlorinated medical glove the inside surface of which is provided with one or both of a surfactant or a silicone.
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The surfactant employed ~ay be any suitable surfactant for use on the skin, that is a skin compatible surfactant. Such surfactants may be ionic or non-ionic. Mixtures of surfactants that is Mixtures containing more than one surfactant, for example, two surfactants may ~e.used i~.desir.ed. .
~' ' Suitable ionic surfactants include cationic, .. .
a~ionic and a~photeric (zwiterionic)`surfactants.

:' ~uitable cationic surfactants includ~ alkyl, .~ :
alkenyl, aralkyl and aryl group containing surfactants .
containing at least one liphophilic moiety (for example one of said group o for example ~ to 18 oarbon atoms) :;
and a salted nitrogen a~om, for ex~mple such as a salted trialkyla~ine group, piperidinum group or the .:,~ ...;',:... `;:

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~ ~ , WO92/13497 ~3~ 6 - PCT/~B92/00171 like. Any counter ion present will be skin ccmpatible such as a halide, for example chloride. Particularly suitable cationic surfactants include alkyl and alkenyl pyridinium compounds, for example those wherein the liphophilic ~oiety has from 12 to 18 carbon atoms.
Preferred cationic surfactants include cetyl pyridinium chloride (also called hexadecyl pyridislium chloride).

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Suitable anionic surfactants include alkyl, alkenyl, aralkyl and aryl group containing surfactants containing at least one liphophilic moiety ~for example one of said group of for example 8 to 18 carbon atoms) and a salted acid group, for example a carboxylic, sulphonic, sulphuric, phosphoric, phosphonic or like acid group. Any counter ion present will be skin compatible, for example an alkali metal ion such as sodium or potassium of which sodium is preferred.
Particularly suitable anionic surfactants include alkyl '~
and alk~nyl sulphates, ~or exa~ple those wherein the lipophilic moiety has from 12 to 18 carbon atoms.
Preferred anionic surfactants include sodium lauryl sulphate.

Suitab}e amphoteric surfactants include those containing the above described cationic and anionic groups.

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WO92/1~97 ~ 7 ~ 2 ~ 7 ~ /GB92/00171 Suitable non-ionic surfactants include those containing residues of ethylene oxide, for exampie polyethoxylated fatty alcohols, polymers of ethylene oxide and copolymers of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide. ! ~ ' Suitable polyethoxylated fatty acids include those where an alkyl, alkelyl group of 8 to la carbon atoms or a sorbitan or similar group carry from l to l0, usually 2 to 8 polyoxyethylene residues wherein the :.
polyoxyethylene residue has about 15 to ~0 oxyethylene groups. Su~h materials are available co~mercially under trade marks such as TWB~N, ~IJ, SPAN, GENERO~ . .
and T~RGITOL, MYR~, ANT~RO~ and TRITON. rwBEN
(polyoxyethylene sorbitan esters of fatty acids such as :
laurate, palmitate, st~rate, oleate) and ANTARO~
(nonylphenol ethoxylates) are of partic~lar interest.

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Suitable polymers of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide are generally block copolymers and are also commercially avai}able, for example under such trade .
marks as PLURONIC, TERG~TOL, BRIJ and GE~ERO~. .

A cla~s of surfactants which can be used which are ionic but also ~mploy polyethyl~ne oxide are those , : in which the~ionic moieties are joined to the lipophilic moieties by polyoxyethylene mo~eties.
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W092/1~97 ~Q~ ~3 8 - PCT/GB9~/00171 A preferred surfactant is a hexadecylpyridinium chloride. A preferred mixture of surfactants contains a hexadecylpyridinium chloride and sodium lauryl sulphate.

The silicone employed may be any polysiloxane or the like skin compatible silicone. Preferably the silicone is a liquid silicone. Apt silicones include polysiloxanes such as polydimethylsiloxane and analogous compounds in which some of the methyl residues are replaced by other functions suoh as the alkyl, aryl, aralkyl, alkenyl, alkoxy and the li.ke. : :
Alternatively the polysiloxane may be terminate~ by a ;~
non--siloxane moiety such as polyethyleneoxide dimethylsilyl, aminoethyldimethylsilyl, hydroxy~thyld ethy~silyl,--hydr~xyethyldi~thylsilyl or :~
the like.

Preferably the polysiloxane employed is polydimethylsiloxane.
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Although the surfactant and the silicone may be used separately, it is most apt to employ the surfactant and it is pre~erred to use them bo~h~

From the foregoing it will be realised that in a .

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WO92/13497 _ 9 _ PCT/GB92/00171 2~7~
particularly preferred aspeot this invention provides a surgeons glove that may be donned by the dry or damp hand which comprises a chlorinated surgeons glove the inner surface o~ which is provided with cetyl pyridinium chloride and sodium lauryl sulphate.

The amount of surfactant and/or silicone present on the inner surface of the glove may be any that is sufficient to aid damp hand donning but is typically .
very low, for example it is not necessary to leave a ~ .
readily visible deposit on the surface (although if it is desired to leave a read.ily ~isible amount this may , .
be done).

Aptly the amount of surfactant and/or silicone on ~ .
the surface is that which can be deposited from an aqueou6-system ~ol~tion and/or emulsion co~taining at least 0.1% w/w of surfactant and/or at least 0.05~ w/w :::; .
of a silieone. $he aqueou syste~ would not generally contain mor~ than about 10~ w/w of surfactant and/or more 2.5~ by weight of a silicone, at a non-extreme .
temperature ~for example 5 - 50C, more usually 10 -35C, favourably 15 - 30C, for example at 20C) for a period of at least 1 minute. Generally the deposition~ ;:
takes place over a period of not more than 30 minutes, :~
for example 5 to 20 minutes. An exampie of a suitable aqueous system contains about 0.1 to 10% w/w of . .
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WO92/13497 ~ J - 10 - PCT/GB92/00171 -surfactant and 0.01 to 2.5% w/w of siloxane.

A particularly appropriate method of applying the .~ .
surfactant and/or silicone is given in the examples hereto.

Most aptly a surfact~nt and/or a silicone is applied to both surfa~es of the medical glove.

The gloves of this invention may be manufactured by treating their inside surface with a surfactant ;
and/or silicone. The treatment may also coat the outsids surface of the glove if desired.

Normally the surfactant and/or silicone will be used in aqueous solution and/or emulsion.

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The concentrations, temperatures and times may be as hereinbefore mentioned.
: , A suitable method for treating the inside and/or outside of the microtextured glove at the same time is to tumble the microtextured glove in the coating liquid and then to dry the glove, for example in a tumble dryer.

The treatment ~ith surfactant andjor silicone can , . , , . . ~:. . .,: . . :,: : . . ,:; ::,: ,: , .. ,: : . . : -W09~/1~97 ~i7 8(~

be carried out on a glove lmmediately after microtexturing or later. ThuS, for example, a glove can be chlorinated in conventional manner in a chlorine bath, optionally rinsed, and then immersed in a bath oî
surfactant and/or silicone and thereafter dried. ::

Microtexturing may be introducled by physical or chemical means. A suitable physical means is to mould the rubber surface, for example by depositing the rubber latex onto a former which is pattened. Suitable chemical means include etching, treatment with a ~!

halogenating agent an acid or the like.
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~ he microt~xturing cannot be seen with the eye as individual raised or deFressed areas. ~owever in some eases a haziness can be seen. The spacing between adjacent raised areas will aptly be les~ than 100 -.
microns, most aptly will be le~s than to microns and .. : -preferably will be less than 30 micro~s. The spacing between adjacent raised areas ~il} aptly be greater than 0.5 micro~s, most aptly will be greater than 1 micron and preferably will be ~reater than 1.5 microns. . ~:

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A particularly favoured method of producing a microtextured surface where ths spacing between : -:

adjace~t raised areas is 1 to 10 microns and most aptly ~
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2 to 6 microns is treatment with a chlorinating agent. .. ;~.:

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WO 92/13497 ,~ 3 - 12 - PCI/GB92/00171 c~ ~r~
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A partic~larly favoured method of producing a microtextured surface where the spacing between adjacent raised area is to 1 to 10 microns and most aptly 2 to 6 microns is treatment with a chlorinating asent.

~ particularly favoured ~ethod of producing a microtextured surface where the spacing between adjacent raised areas is 10 to 100 micxons, most aptly 15 to 50 microns and favourably 20 to 30 microns is to form the rubber on a former processing the mirror image of the desired microtexture. ..

The inner surface of the glove may employ two types of mi~rotexturing, or exa~ple (1) that produced by:physical mean such as ~oulding and also (ii) that p~oduced by chemical ~eans sueh as treatment with a halogenating agent, for example chlorination. It is preferred to employ two types of microtexturing sinee the wet donning performance of th~ glove is generally better than if only one type o~ microtexturing i~
employed.

: The glove may also have a macrotexturing on its ~ -:~ : inner surface. Such macrotexturing is o~ten readily vi~ible to the eye. The spaoing between raised areas ' .
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will aptly be more than 100 microns, more aptly more than 200 microns, most aptly more than 450 microns, for ;~
e~ample about 500 to 1000 microns. A spacing of about 800 ~icrons has been found to be particularly suit~ble.
Macrotexturing may be produeed by physical means such as by forming on a former which is provided with the mirror image of the macrotexturing sought.
' ' The depth of the macrotexturing ("average peak to tough height") will generally be about 1 to about 100 microns. Aptly the depth of the ~acrotexturing will be greater than 2 micron~, more aptly yreater than 4 microns, most aptly greater than 10 microns. Aptly the depth of the macrotexturing will be less than 70 microns, more aptly less than 50 microns and most aptly less than 35 microns. A preferred depth of macrotexturing is about 20 to 30 microns, for example about 25 microns. ;

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It is preferred to employ macrotexturing and microtexturing since the wet donning performance is particularly enhanced in such circumstanees.
The glove formers required to give texturing of the type re~erred to herein are well known in the art becau~e hitherto such formers have been employed to provide 3 roughened outer sur~ace to the glove. In the present invention what is traditionally the outer .
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l4 - PCT/GB92/00171 surface of the glove becomes the inner surface in use (that is the glove is inverted and the normally outside surface is next to the skin). The formers can be made by sand blasting porcelain formers, spattering formers with glaze or just by using appropriate unglazed porcelain formers. The use of unglazlad porcelain formers (which has the typical feel oE unglazed porcelain) have lead to particularly Isuitable sloves of this inYentions when chlorinated and treated with surfactant on the donning (inner) surFace.

US Patents Nos. 4597108, 4851266 t 3992221, 3740262 and 3637411 and European Patent Application No.
88119875 may be read for methods of halogenating glove 8 .

Gloves may be chlorinated by immersion in a chlorination bath. This can be done in a manner whieh chlorinates both surfaces or the hand contactinq surface only. If both surfaces are to be chlorinated gloves can be maintained open in the bath. If only the hand contacting surface i~i required to be chlorinated the glove can be on a former and thereafter inverted or can have its opening closed or be maintained Flat and thereafter inverted.

' The gloves can be maintained in the chlorinatlon ,:

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W092/13497 - l5 - PCT/GB92/00171 2 0 ~ 8 ~
bath for any convenient time, for example ~rom about lS
seconds to 2 hours, but are more usually in the chlorination bath for from about one minute to one hour, more aptly more than one minute, most aptly more than 5 minutes and preferably more than a minutes, and more ap~ly for less than 20 minutes, most aptly less than l5 minutes and preferably les~ than 12 minutes.

Chlorination may be effected in any convenient manner but one particularly apt method is by dipping in a bath of water containing one part by weight of concentrated hydrochloric acid and 6 parts by weiqh~ of sodium hypochlorite solution (5~ available Cl). The gloves may be immersed in the chlorination bath for a range af times, for example l, 5, lO 20 and 30 minutes.
The sides that form the outsides of the gloves in the chlorine bath formed the insides (as worn ) of the gIoves. After chlorination the gloves may be dried in an oven at 70C for 30 minutes or at any other conveni~nt temperature and time. ~.

The insides (as worn) of the gloves may be treated with a surfactant and silicone mixture in water. The mixture may consist (by weight) of 2%
cety1pyridinium chloride (CPC) and 0.5% DC 365. The.
qloves may be treated by holding them open and then filing them with the curfactant/silicone mixture and ,:

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W092/13~97 ~ 3 - 16 - PCT/GB92/00171 then emptying them again. The gloves can be then dried at 7dC for 30 ~inutes or at any other convenient temperature and time.

The gloves produced in such a manner may be donned using damp hands.

The wet donning per~ormances of such gloves .in the absence of CPC/silicone treatment, seem to show an optimum at between 5 and 10 minutes chlorination. The -;; .
use of the cPC/silicone treatment improves the performance of such gloves; the optimum chlorination ti~e seeming to lie between 10 and 30 minutes.

SEM study has revealed changes in latex texture according to dwell time in the chlorine bath. A fine texture, si~ilar to that of a cauli1Ower ~loret was seen throu~hout. ~etwe~n 1 and 10 minutes chlorination one can see that furrows are being gradually etched into the latex, leading to a crazed appearance; while th~ non-~urrowed areas tend to retain their cauliflower floret appearance.

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Slippery latex surfaces are desirable on the :

inside (as worn) of gloves as they aid donning. - .:

:~ However, on the outside of gloves an excessively ;.

: ~ slippery surface is undesirable as it may make the : ~

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W092/1~97 - 17 - PCT/GB92/00171 r.

holding of instruments difficult. As in~reasing the deqree of chlorination makes surfaces more slippery differential chlorination between the :inside and outside surfaces (as worn) can be advantageous.

Gloves may be made on unglazed porcelain formers. i The gloves ~ay then be chlorinate!d by allowing the side that formed the inside (as worn) be the ~
outside of a glove as placed into a chlorine bath .. :;:
between 1 and 30, for example for 10 minutes. The gloves may then be removed, drained and inverted before being placed back into the chlorinc bath for a further `
1 minute when both sur~aces were chlorinated. A~ter chlorination the gloves may be dried at 70C for 30 .
minutes or any convenient temperatur~ and time.
... ....... ... .. .. ~,, The gloves may then have CPC/silicone applied to the inside (as worn) sur~ace only by filling th~ glove with the solution of the two agents.
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The most advantageous gloves of this invention ~: .
are sterile surgeon's gloves. Su~h gloves are most aptly distributed in bacteria-proof paeka3ing to /;
maintain sterility. Most aptly the packaging is of paper or plastic film. Favourably the packaging is in ~. .
the form of a peel-apart container such as a pouch.
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WO92/13497 , - 18 - PCT/GB92/00171 J`' Thus in a highly preferred aspect the present invention provides a surgeon~s glove of the invention as hereinbefore described which is a steril~ glove within a backeria-proof peel-apart pouch.

The sterile glove of this invention may be sterilised in convenient manner, for example by treatment with ethylene oxide or ionizing radiation such as gamma irradiation. Methods of sterilizing gloves are very well known in the art.

The following examples illustrate the invention.
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Exam~l~e 1 Size 7.5 "Ansell No Powder" gloves (chlorinated on both surfaces) wer2 placed in a bath having the following composition.
ml Distilled water 960.5 Hexadecylpyridiu~ chloride 20 ~2% `

Dow Corning 365 Medical 19.5 -0.5%
Grade Silicone ~mulsion (35~) ~ ' The gloves were left for 15 minutes at room ;

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W0~2/13497 - 19 - PCT/GB92/00171 2 ~ 3 ~i ~
temperature. They were then dried at 70C for 30 minutes, being reversed after lS minutes to totally dry the inside. When dry they were reversed again back to their original orientation.

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ExamDle 2 .

Example 1 was repeated omitting the hexadecylpyridinium chlorideO
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Example 3 . ...

Example 1 was repeated omitting the silicone.

ExamDle 4 ;
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Example 1 was repeated coating the inner surface only.

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Example 5 ~ ;

The glove of Example 1 was placed in a pouch with `' a peel-apart closure and the pouch closed. The glove and pouch were sterilized by treatment with ethylene oxide in conventional manner.

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~ . ', " ';' '' . ; , ' "' . ' ;, ~ ' ' '' ' "', " ` ' , , " ' W092/~ 20 - PCTtGB92/00171 - Exam~ 6 (a) Preparation of Basic Glove A glove was formed on an unglazed porcelain former in conventional manner by dipping the former into a calcium ion coagulant and then into a wax free natural rubber latex, drying, leaching in water and curing. The glove was powdered on the outside with starch to prevent adhesion until a~ter chlorination.

(b) Chlorination A glave prepared as described in (a) was placed in a chlorine bath which comprises a so}ution in water (465g) of concentr~ted hydrochloric acid t5g) and sodium hypochlorite solution (30g, 5~).
The glov~ was tumbled in the bath for 10 mlnutes ;
at roo~ temperature (approximately 20C). The glGve was r~moved from the solution and washed with wa~er and thereafter d~ied at 70C for 30 minutes. About two thirds throu~h the drying p~ocedure the glove was inverted to ensure both surfaces were dry. The glove was inverted again so that the roughened side was on the outside.
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(c) Slip Treatment .
~ The gloYe then was immersed in a bath containing . .

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W092/1~97 - 21 ~ 2 ~ r~ PCT/GB92/00171 wa~er (lOOg) in which was cetylpyridinium chloride (2g) and a silico~e, Dow Corning 365 (35~, 1.42g) so that both sides were treated.

The treated glove was dried at 70C for 30 minutes being inverted about mid way through to ensure both surfaces were dry. At the end of this process the rou~hened and slip treated side is on the inside as worn. , '.'''~

~xamPle 7 :

A glove made as in Example 6(a) was tumbled in a chlorine bath as described in Example 6~b) for ten minutes. The glove was replaced ln the bath and . :
tumbled for a further one minute. The glove was removed, wash~d with water and thereafter dried at 70C
or 30 ~inutes. About two thirds through the drying procedure the glove was inverted to ensure both :
surfaces were dry. With the roughe~ed side on the . .
inside the inside only was treated with a solution as descr~bed in Exa~ple 6(c). The solution was emptied from the glove and the glove dried at 70C for thirty minutes inverting twi~e during the procedure to dry :.;

thoroughly and to place thr roughen~d side on the inside of the glove.

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,,, ", ,,, ; , , , , ,,; , " " ,, ", ~ " , ~,, : "~ , ~ , ~ , wog2/1349~ 3`i - 22 - PCT/GB92/00171 Example 8 Size 7.5 Perry Style 47 gloves (chlorinated on both surfaces) marketed by Smith & Nephew Perry, were sprayed on the inside surface with a ,solution having the following composition:

- Distilled water 960ml ~:
Hexadecylpryidinium chloride 20g ~ %
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate 20g - 2%
, The gloves were dried for 30 minutes. When dried they were reversed again back to their original orientation.

When tested the glove of the invention was :
significantly easier to don by the d~mp hand.

Example 9 Example 5 was repeated omitting the hexadecylpyridinium chloride.

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Claims (17)

1. A medical glove which may be donned by a dry or damp hand which comprises a microtextured medical glove the inside surface of which is provided with one or both of a surfactant and a silicone.

2. A glove as claimed in claim 1 in which the microtextured medical glove is a chlorinated medical glove.

3. A glove as claimed in either of claims 1 or 2 in which the inside surface of the glove is provided with a surfactant.

4. A glove as claimed in either of claims 1 or 2 in which the inside surface of the glove is provided with a mixture containing more than one surfactant.

5. A glove as claimed in either of claims 1 or 2 in which the inside surface of the glove is provided with a silicone.

6. A glove as claimed as claimed either of claims 1 or 2 in which the inside surface of the glove is provided with a surfactant and a silicone.

7. A glove as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4 or 6 in which the surfactant is cationic surfactant containing a salted nitrogen atom.

8. A glove as claimed in claim 7 in which the surfactant is hexyldecyl pyridinium chloride.

9. A glove as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4 or 6 in which the surfactant is an anionic surfactant containing an salted acid group.

10. A glove as claimed in claim 8 in which the surfactant in sodium lauryl sulphate.

11. A glove as claimed in claim 4 in which the mixture contains hexyldecyl pyridinium and sodium lauryl sulphate.

12. A glove as claimed in any of claims 1, 2, 5 or 6 in which the siloxane is polydimethyl siloxane.

13. A glove as claimed in claim 6 in which the silicone is polydimethyl siloxane and the surfactant is hexyldecyl pyridinium chloride.

14. A glove as claimed in any of claims 1 to 13 which has been microtextured by a means of moulding process.

15. A sterile glove as claimed in any of claims 1 to 14 within a bacteria proof pack.

16. A method of making a glove as claimed in any of claims 1 to 14 which comprises treating the inside surface of a microtextured glove with one or both of a surfactant and a silicone.

17. A method as claimed in claim 16 which comprises treating the glove with an aqueous solution of hexyldecyl pyridinium chloride and sodium lauryl sulphate.