Medical scrubs have been around since the 1950s. But a group of Houston men hopes to revolutionize the industry, promising better protection for hospital staff and their patients.
After nine seasons in the NFL, Bert Emanuel turned his focus to performance apparel, supplying 800,000 high tech suits to the US Military. He was then contacted by fellow Langham Creek and Rice University grad Dr. Rick Ngo who was interested in creating high tech gear for medical professionals.
"There's a definite need for a product like this," said Bert Emanuel, President & CEO of Lango Shels.
"There have been numerous studies on stethoscopes and ties and lab coats harboring bacteria and possibly being a mode of transmission of infection between patients, so we wanted to develop a scrub that we call a MEDSUIT that affords protection to ourselves and more importantly our patients," said Houston surgeon Dr. Rick Ngo.
So four friends developed the MEDSUIT - luxury, made to measure, anti-microbial high performance scrubs.
The game changer: copper.
"Copper as a natural element is anti-microbial, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and so when we weave it into the yarns or fabric, it becomes more protective," Emanuel explained.
According to the EPA, copper ions kill 99 percent of bacteria within two hours.
The MEDSUIT also has several features which eliminate the need for lab coats, another germ carrier.
There's a badge clip, pen holder, smartphone pocket and a jewelry clip to prevent doctors from losing their rings when they scrub in.
"I rarely wear a ring because I lose it. But now, we have a place to clip your ring, you can clip your watch to it. We took away all the extraneous stuff you don't need. We just went really basic," said Dr. Core La, OB/GYN.
A basic MEDSUIT costs $400 since the suit is custom made.
There are other anti-microbial scrubs on the market, but studies have been mixed about how effective they are.
