Microscopical examination: The impact of different ionising radiation doses over protective clothing used in the operating theatre

The goals to be pursued by this paper are to highlight the effect of different ionising radiation methods, considered low temperature sterilisation, over protective clothing (surgical gowns) used in the operating theatre through microscopical examination. In order to investigate the influence of the radiation on the properties of nonwoven-based surgical gowns, two types of radiation (gamma and electron beam radiation) were considered in this study. The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) is widely used in studies of polymers, although for this kind of nonwoven based structures, that goes through sterilisation treatments it isn't commonly used. So, this paper also intends to relate the results of the evaluation of comfort and barrier properties after irradiated at several doses in a range from 0 to 160 kGy.