Medical consumables are one of the very professional applications of plastics. The design and verification are very strict. They are in contact with the human body. They must be safe, risk-free, non-toxic and sterile. It is conceivable that the price is more Generally, plastics are expensive. Generally used as medical tubing, it is a hollow and transparent channel. It is very popular in hospitals and clinics. It is used for intravenous drug treatment, pathology laboratory, catheter inspection, etc., most of which are once Disposable medical consumables.
 

Plastic manufacturing process

There are two ways to produce plastics. One is pultrusion, which is to inject resin at the same time, and stretch the fibers through the forming mold. All fibers are oriented along the length of the mold. The bending and stretching force performance is very high, but it is not suitable. Applying a dense crushing force load such as torque, another method is extrusion molding, which is melted through a molding die to force the production of plastic to form the same cross-section, cross-section or profile. This is a way to produce at a lower cost, in large quantities, and quickly. , Widely used in all plastic products in various industries.
 

Types of medical plastic applications

1. Injection and blood sampling (disposable medical materials): safety, blood sampling syringes, adopters… etc.

2. Drainage catheter and cannula (disposable medical materials): dialysis catheter, suction tube, infusion tube… etc.

3. Medical soft bags (disposable medical materials): blood bags, drip bags, urine bags… etc.

4. Medical organs for surgery: artificial lungs, artificial kidneys, artificial joints… etc.

5. Medical plastic equipment and auxiliary equipment: wheelchairs, commode chairs, urinals… etc.

Commonly used medical consumable materials

1. PVC (Vinyl Chloride): Commonly used raw material for medical equipment, low cost and easy to process, accounting for 20~30%, with good mechanical processability, resistance to general chemical substances, but it does not have excellent light and heat resistance, so it is multi-purpose For bags and catheters.

2. PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene): It has high temperature resistance, low friction, resistance to solubility and chemical resistance. The important thing is that it is not toxic to the human body. It is mostly used for artificial blood vessels, venous blood vessels, endoscopes, etc. of medical consumables. .

3. TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane): It is a material that can be heated and softened to reshape other products. It is very environmentally friendly. In terms of physical properties, it has excellent high tensile strength, high elasticity, high ductility, high transparency, and chemical resistance. , Solvent resistance, mostly used in the application of medical consumables such as pipes and catheters.

4. PEEK (polyether ether ketone): can withstand high temperature of 260 degrees, and can maintain the original size at 160 degrees for a long time, not only has excellent height resistance, high hardness and mechanical properties, but also has good low friction and resistance Chemicals and solvents, because of their high hardness, are used in medical treatment for bone and cartilage replacement in surgical operations, and they are printed in 3D printing a> The most commonly used materials on the list.

5. PE (polyethylene): It is a common raw material in industry and life. It is generally divided into HDPE (high-density polyethylene) and LDPE (low-density polyethylene) by density. HDPE has a higher melting point than LDPE It is high, hard, and solvent resistant. Almost all bottles and containers on the market are made of HDPE, and almost all plastic bags are made of LDPE, which is soft and does not make a rustling sound. In medical treatment, LDPE is mainly used in medical packaging bags, injection containers, etc.; in medical treatment, HDPE is mainly used in artificial trachea, kidney, urethra or surgical materials and disposable medical supplies.

6. PEBA (polyether block amide): PEBA is a kind of thermoplastic elastomer (TPE). The more well-known representative brands are PEBAX® (Arkema) and VESTAMID® E (Evonik Industries), which are extremely light engineering thermoplastic elastomers Body, stable performance at low temperature, good elasticity, repeated deformation, will not lose mechanical properties, and has excellent processing performance. It is most commonly used in sports products, such as sneakers, hiking shoes, snow boots & hellip; and because of its flexibility, good low and high temperature mechanical properties and flexibility, it is used in catheters for medical consumables, etc.
    

Comparison of basic medical tubes TPU, PEBA, PEEK

Note: The data varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. The above are general medical specifications and are for reference only

Conclusion

Medical devices are distinguished according to whether they are in contact with humans, skin contact products, medical equipment, those entering the circulatory system, contact with humans for more than 30 days (permanent), contact for 24hr to 30 days (extended), and contact less than 24hr (limited) Application), while Most of the medical tubing of medical consumables are disposable medical supplies, such as catheter applications, which are relatively common. According to different applications, it is recommended to choose TPU, PEBAX or PEEK is a product made of materials, but if it is an invasive treatment, depending on the customer’s attributes and application methods, some will require strict biocompatibility testing. In addition, Including whether the manufacturing environment ISO13485 is required, and whether the production must be in a clean room, and at what level? For any needs for medical tubing, please call us.

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