Innovation through Collaboration (RCA)
Collaboration with the RCA (Helen Hamlyn Centre)
The Design Council challenged the UK's top designers and manufacturers to help control the risk of Healthcare Associated Infections by making hospital furniture and equipment easier and quicker to clean.
Dartex Coatings were approached by the Helen Hamlyn Centre at the Royal College of Art (RCA) to help in the design and prototyping of a mattress cover fabric that changes colour when it has become damaged, making contaminated mattresses easier to identify as soon as they become contaminated.
Suitable fabrics were printed with a layer of hydrochromic ink before having a clear healthcare grade coating applied. This resulted in a cutting-edge solution of a mattress cover that immediately indicates when fluid has contaminated the foam core by permanently changing colour when it comes into contact with any moisture. Thereby making it immediately obvious when the mattress has been compromised and needs replacing.
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