At the interface of man and machine, technical textiles can be the buffer between hard and non-breathable surfaces and the soft skin and tissue of the human body. For example, a metal knee brace is needed to stabilize that critical joint for mobility, but we can’t put hard metal right up against our skin and tissue without a cushion in between, oftentimes a laminate. This laminate needs to be soft and breathable enough to protect the skin on one side, but durable enough on the other to adhere to the metal brace without ripping, shredding or delaminating, while offering a cushion in the middle to avoid hard shocks to the knee joint and leg area.   A similar challenge exists for medical inflatables like DVT prevention cuffs, lymphedema wraps and blood pressure cuffs. The side facing the skin needs to soft and breathable for optimum skin care, but the other layers must withstand the repetitive cycles of air pressure distorting the inflatable bladder the fabric is laminated to.   Shawmut has excelled at technical lamination challenges such as these for decades as a proven supplier to the top manufacturers in the medical device field.