About ST-gel ST-gel

Characteristics of “ST-gel”

“ST-gel” has various characteristics to satisfy customers' needs. Taking advantage of each characteristic, the products can be used in various fields for many different applications.

Customizing

“ST-gel” allows the customization of its physical properties such as adhesiveness and conductivity, and it can also be processed together with other materials such as cloth and polyurethane foam.
We not only sell gel materials with a high level of safety but also design the product and carry out final product processing to provide the most suitable ST-gel according to customers' needs.

Adhesiveness

Adhesiveness can be adjusted from a high level of adhesiveness similar to bioadhesive tape to low adhesiveness.

Conductivity

Can be made conductive by adding electrolytes to the gel. Can be adjusted from low impedance for biosensors such as electrocardiograms to high impedance for electrical stimulation devices such as TENS and EMS.

Moisture Respirability

“ST-gel” has the properties of releasing moisture in a dry environment and absorbing moisture in a humid environment. Therefore, it can be designed to not get dry or not to swell up in everyday environments.

Safety

“The amount of residual monomers”, which may become the cause of irritation or skin disorders, is reduced by controlling the reactivity when manufacturing the “ST-gel”. Moreover, because the component ingredients have all been confirmed safe, a high level of safety is secured.
Widely adopted for various applications such as repeated-use adhesive pads for TENS and EMS, electrodes for wearable devices attached to the skin for extended periods of time, and electrodes for Holter ECGs etc.

When the surface of the tape adhered to the skin is peeled off and treated with iodine, it has been observed that “ST-gel” has less keratin adhered compared with standard medical tape and so is noticeably more gentle to the skin. (The part that looks white is keratin, and the medical tape has keratin attached to the whole surface.)

Basic Safety

Biocompatibility evaluated based on ISO 10993. * Example of measured values.

Biocompatibility Evaluation Result

Test Details	Test Purposes	ST-gel
Cytotoxicity Testing	Toxicity to living organisms	0
Primary Skin Irritation Testing	Irritation to the contacted skin	P.I.I 0.0*
Sensitization Testing	Allergy occurrence rate	No sensitizing properties

As a result of the primary skin irritation testing, Non Irritation was observed.

Determination of rash conditions on human skin

Kawai's Method “24-hour Open Patch Test” 3B-0C-OD

It is said that general adhesive tapes tend to cause rashes and the occurrence of C-Stage and D-Stage cannot be avoided, but “ST-gel” has been determined to impose less chance of causing irritation to human skin.

Test Method

The test material is patched onto the inner part of the upper arm of 20 test subjects.
After the material is patched for 24 hours, the attachment site is examined and replica specimens are collected only from those not showing any abnormalities visible to the naked eye.
The entire visual field of replica specimens is microscopically observed at 50 times magnification.
Observed and determined by classifying into 4 stages from A-Stage to D-Stage according to irritation severity.

Kawai Method “24 Hour Open Patch Test” 3B-0C-OD

Evaluation Method	Microscopic Evaluation						Naked Eye Evaluation
Skin Surface Morphological Changes	Round ridges	Depressed skin grooves				Shallow skin grooves Disappearing skin grooves Irregular skin ridges and grooves Wrinkled skin ridges Lamellar ichthyosis	Erythema Edema Papula
Irritation Rank	-	(Test Subject Irritation Index)-(Control Irritation Index)				1 case or more	1 case or more
		≦0	1～2	3	≧4	1 case or more	1 case or more
		Negative	Mostly negative	Mostly negative	Positive	Positive	Positive
Irritation Rank	A-Stage	B-Stage				C-Stage	D-Stage
Irritation Rank	High Low

Normal epidermal
replica image

A-Stage

B-Stage

C-Stage

Grade

Grade	Characteristics	Application Examples
SR	Repeated adhesiveness	Electrodes for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS), Adhesive Pads for Electrical Muscle Stimulation (EMS)
CR	Low impedance	Electrocardiogram (ECG) Electrodes, Biosensors
NR	Low aluminum corrosive	Return Electrodes for Electrosurgical Instruments
HIT	High initial adhesiveness immediately after being adhered	Electrodes for Examination/Electrocardiogram
AG	Even if it is made thin, it is highly adhesive	Adhesive Tapes
G	Elasticity, Slight adhesiveness	Low Adhesive Sheets, Temporary Anchoring Materials
CP	High wetness and medicinal ingredients can be added	Skin Care Pack (Cosmetics, Quasi-drugs)

List of Application Examples

Can be customized based on customers' requests. Other than the sales of gel materials, the gel has been widely adopted for various applications such as the OEM of cosmetic gel masks and various processed electrode products.

Materials Field	Medical Field	Healthcare Field	Cosmetic Field
Bioelectrode Materials Bioadhesive Materials Wound Dressing Materials Industrial Electrode Materials Industrial Adhesives	Electrocardiogram (ECG) Electrodes Electroencephalogram (EEG) Electrodes Return Electrodes for Electrosurgical Instruments Biosensors Electrodes for Electrotherapy Equipment	Biosensors Electrodes for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) Adhesive Pads for Electrical Muscle Stimulation (EMS) Adhesive Pads for Slimming Equipment	Cosmetic Gel Masks Cooling Sheets

Quality Control

We have acquired ISO 9001, ISO 13485, and 14001 certifications. We are implementing consistent manufacturing management from procurement of the ST-gel raw materials to manufacturing, inspections and shipments in order to achieve stable quality control.