Development of a hand sanitizer with moisturizing properties for medical use

Abstract

In this work, the development of a hand sanitizer with moisturizing properties for medical use has been carried out. Formulated product development is the process through which society and or consumer needs are identified and transformed into commercial products. This process can be divided in five main stages: identification of consumer needs, product conceptualization, quality criteria, product formulation and design of a manufacturing process. The product being developed in this work responds to the need of medical staff to dispose of a hand sanitizer that combines maximum biocidal efficacy with superior moisturizing properties to minimize and or eliminate the skin compatibility issues of traditional formulations when used intensively in the context of nosocomial infection prevention. To fulfill the previously identified need, the product has been conceptualized both specifying its microstructure and the delivery agent for the active ingredients of the product. The quality criteria of a formulated product are the requirements that must be met to ensure that apart from satisfying the identified need, the product differentiates from its competition and is attractive and convincing to the end consumer. The four main quality criteria for the product being developed are: biocidal efficacy, moisturizing capabilities, emulsion stability and product rheology. To allow the evaluation of said quality criteria, appropriate quality indexes have been discussed and in combination with an extensive research of market trends and existing hand sanitizer and moisturizer formulations a genuine and original formulation for the product has been proposed. Finally, in the design of a manufacturing process stage, a process flowsheet indicating all the necessary unit operations and their order has been confectioned and the main equipment units have been selected and briefly analyzed.