Skin vs. Stainless Steel Adhesion Testing For Medical Design

By Kris Godbey, Sr. Technical Support Engineer, 3M Medical Materials and Technologies, 3M Health Care

Choosing the correct adhesion tape for a patient with the best adhesion to skin may be difficult due to the many changing factors that human skin has, including cell renewal cycles, elastic surfaces, rough textures, and breathing surfaces. As a solution, adhesion of tape made at different times following the same production standards to a standardized substrate like stainless steel will provide a reproducible value under controlled conditions, and therefore is a desirable choice as part of a quality control specification. This white paper discusses the differences between skin and stainless steel adhesion testing for medical applications, as well as considerations for choosing the optimal adhesion for your patient. Download the full paper for more information.