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Updated: Nov 23, 2025

Development of a Benchtop Model for Evaluating the Compatibility of Wound Dressing Materials with Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Systems
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Development of a Benchtop Model for Evaluating the Compatibility of Wound Dressing Materials with Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Systems

Published on: May 2, 2025

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Friction characteristics of preventative wound dressings under clinically-relevant conditions

Stephen Sprigle1, Riley Caminiti1, Michael Varenberg2

  • 1Rehabilitation Engineering and Applied Research Lab, GW Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering & School of Industrial Design, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Wound Repair and Regeneration : Official Publication of the Wound Healing Society [And] the European Tissue Repair Society
|December 31, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Preventative wound dressings reduce friction against bed linens, potentially lowering pressure ulcer risk. This study quantified friction coefficients (COF) of dressings, finding they are generally lower than moist skin against linen.

Area of Science:

  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Materials Science
  • Dermatology

Background:

  • Prophylactic wound dressings are standard for preventing pressure ulcers in bedridden patients.
  • The mechanism of prevention is not fully understood, but friction between dressings and linen is a key hypothesized factor.
  • Quantifying friction is crucial for understanding dressing performance.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To measure the static and kinetic coefficients of friction (COF) for various prophylactic dressings.
  • To compare dressing COF against bed linen under simulated in-situ conditions.
  • To evaluate dressing friction relative to reported skin-linen friction values.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized tribometer measurements to calculate COF for six commercial prophylactic dressings.
  • Simulated in-situ stresses experienced by dressings in contact with bed linen materials.
  • Calculated static and kinetic coefficients of friction for each dressing.

Main Results:

  • Static COF ranged from 0.333 to 0.542.
  • Kinetic COF ranged from 0.333 to 0.513.
  • Four dressings showed COF values comparable to literature values for skin-on-linen friction.
  • All tested dressings exhibited lower COF than reported values for moist skin against linen.

Conclusions:

  • Prophylactic dressings demonstrate varying degrees of friction against bed linens.
  • The measured COF values suggest that dressings may reduce friction compared to direct skin contact.
  • These findings support the hypothesis that reduced friction contributes to the effectiveness of preventative dressings in mitigating pressure ulcer development.

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