ST. PAUL, Minn.—3M Inc. already is expanding its popular line of extended wear medical adhesives.
The firm in June released 4077, a single coated medical extended wear adhesive nonwoven tape that offers omni-directional stretch for stronger conformability and breathability.
"As we talked to our partners in the marketplace during the last several years, we were seeing an increasing need for a credible and reliable solution for extended wear adhesion of wearable devices," said Marcello Napol, global business director for 3M's Critical and Chronic Care Solutions Division. "We're pretty excited about this and our partner feedback has been pretty strong so far."
The thin, water-resistant tape offers strong adhesion and a 14-day wear time, also improving conformability compared to other tapes. It's produced using an acrylic-based, non-sensitized and conformable adhesive package.
Napol said the increase in wearable medical devices is leading to OEMs wanting longer wear times for two main reasons: to reduce cost and increase patient comfort.
"As we look to the market of finished devices, typically the longest we had seen in the marketplace was up to 10 days wear time," Napol said. "Our partners are very excited about the differential performance of this product. It's giving us a lot of confidence that this is an exciting platform for us.
"It's really a game changer for the patient. Think about how much lower the number of removal and applications during a one-year period will be, and then when it's removed from the skin it's just coming off. There's no unintended damage. You don't want to create any unintended consequences from wearing the device. We're definitely seeing a mindset around skin appropriate choices. The reality is skin matters. These are devices that are meant to help and we don't want to create any negative consequences for the patient."
The adhesive is compliant with ISO:10993 and approved for use on intact skin. It's the latest addition to its 14-day, extended wear line coming on the heels of the success of its 4076 adhesive, which was the first product in this line launched about a year ago.
The adhesive was honored at MD&M West with a Golden Mousetrap award and also is acrylic-based.
Napol said that was just one of many iterations 3M would bring to market, with 4077 being the next step. The main difference is 4077 provides greater stretchability and a different feel.
"We want to have a suite of offerings," Napol said. "This is just the second in that family, and we will be doing more."