A variety of advanced textile products were discussed in sessions during ATA’s Pre-Expo Conference Oct. 15. Caroline Portoghese explained how her company’s product, called GlideWear, offers innovative skin protection by reducing friction and shear to prevent skin tears and blisters.

The product has been used by athletes, burn patients wearing compression garments, in wheelchair components for patients without mobility, inside orthotics and prostheses, and in operating room pads for patients with extremely sensitive pain issues. Testing has shown that adding a GlideWear low-friction interface in key pressure areas of clothing or prostheses can improve comfort and reduce skin complications.

Johan Theil, CEO of MIPS in Stockholm, Sweden, described how his company is using the GlideWear technology inside helmets to protect against brain injuries. He noted that existing helmets do a good job of protecting from skull fractures, but the brain is sensitive to rotational forces, and an oblique impact is most typical.

“Most impacts are angular, which is really dangerous for the brain,” Theil said. But a low-friction component in a helmet, such as that offered by GlideWear, will reduce the strain on the brain; the helmet slides or moves, rather than the brain inside the skull absorbing that impact full-force. Testing has shown, he said, that strain patterns are not as traumatic on the brain with a low-friction interface inside a helmet.