Polyurethane Tubing Resists Kinking and Abrasion
Beswick Engineering offers high-performance polyurethane tubing, coiled polyurethane tubing and high-pressure tubing. The firm’s flexible polyurethane tubing offers resistance to kinking and abrasion. The elastic tubing resists attack by water, ozone, oil and grease. Offered with an ID ranging from 1⁄16 to ¼ in., the tubing is available in a variety of opaque and translucent colours. The firm’s coiled polyurethane tubing is available with one 16-in. straight tail and one 8-in. tail. The maximum extended length of the tubing is 10 ft. The coiled tubing also can be manufactured to custom specifications. The company’s high-pressure tubing, which is offered with an ID ranging from 0.03125 to 0.170 in., is suited for a variety of applications and can be used with compression fittings made from copper, nylon, Teflon and polyethylene. Tubing accessories such as clamps and pliers for a variety of medical and dental applications are also available from the company.
Beswick Engineering
Greenland, NH, USA +1 603 433 1188
www.beswick.com [5]
Polyimide tubing components
Laser-machined polyimide tubing components are available from Avicenna Technology Inc., a manufacturer that offers a variety of tubing and contract services to the medical device industry. The firm’s polyimide tubing components, which are produced to tight tolerances, can be customised with expanded or reduced diameters, flared or tapered tips and cut holes or slots. The firm’s polyimide tubing and tubing components accommodate laser marking or etching for identification purposes.
Polyimide, a thermoset polymer strengthened by the introduction of heat in the curing process, offers unique mechanical and dielectric properties. Because of the thermoset nature of polyimide, the material cannot be reflowed or melted once it has been cured. The material also is resistant to abrasive chemicals and high temperatures.
Avicenna Technology Inc.
Montevideo, MN, USA +1 320 269 5588
www.avicennatech.com [6]
Medical tube cutter
A rotary cutter is designed to cut cuffed, corrugated, tapered and bubble medical tubing. Available from Peter Gillard & Co. Ltd, the Servo-Torq rotary cutter uses a vision camera system to locate the transition points along the tube to ensure that every cut is positioned accurately. Depending on the type of tube, this is normally either in the middle of the cuff or equidistant between two bubbles. The manufacturer has developed special software to allow the operator to program the exact sequence of cuts that are required.
The tubing cutter employs ac brushless servomotors, which are controlled by a digital Siemens 3-axes drive system. This allows cut point accuracy to be maintained to ±0.25 mm. The tubing cutter’s integral Accra-Feed caterpillar infeeder and puller belt unit also can be used to draw the tube from the extruder. The manufacturer reports that the unit can achieve line speeds up to 250 m/min.
The firm’s medical cutter systems are designed for cleanroom use and are offered with an easy-to-clean, scratch-resistant painted finish. A stainless-steel finish is available as an option.
Peter Gillard & Co. Ltd
Tewkesbury, UK +44 1684 290 243
www.gillard.co.uk [7]
Nitinol tubing
Nitinol tubing supplier Euroflex has developed a fabrication method designed to enable the production of semifinished products with an extremely smooth inner diameter and thin oxide layer. Known as XS tubing, which signifies its extra smooth surface, the tubing can be laser-cut and postprocessed utilising standard manufacturing techniques. It is available in a range of outer diameters and wall ratios. The company also offers a variety of other tubing made from titanium and cobalt alloys, stainless steel, magnesium as well as nitinol. Tubing from the company is routinely used in the manufacture of a variety of medical device applications such as guidewires, baskets and flexible surgical instruments.
Euroflex GmbH
Pforzheim, Germany +49 7231 208 210
www.euroflex-gmbh.de [8]
Tube fitting system
A miniature inert system for tubing and components can precisely control flow rate, pressure, filtration, atomisation and other aspects of aggressive fluids. Available from Lee Products, the 062 Minstac fitting system is designed for use with 0.062-in.-OD Teflon tubing. The system uses a unique collet-lock unit to provide a leak-proof connection from Teflon tubing to a variety tubing components and fittings. Offered in three fitting end styles, 062 Minstac tubing assemblies are available with fittings at one or both ends. Freely rotating coupling screws allow the fittings to be tightened without torquing the tubing, which prevents accidental unthreading of the coupling screw. The 062 Minstac fittings feature mating conical surfaces, which minimise diameter changes, resulting in smooth flow through the tubing and fittings. The system is compatible with many of the firm’s miniature valves and fluidic components such as nozzles, filters and check valves.
Lee Products Ltd
Gerrards Cross, UK +44 1753 886 664
www.leeproducts.co.uk [9]
Medical tubing
Custom tubing for critical applications and minimally invasive medical devices is available from specialist tubing manufacturer MicroLumen. Specialising in polyimide tubing, the company is certified to ISO 9001:2000 and its products are biocompatible per USP Class VI guidelines. A thermoset plastic, polyimide has excellent mechanical, thermal and chemical properties. Typical applications of the firm’s products include cardiovascular and urological catheters, and stent deployment and drug-delivery systems. The tubing is available with inner diameters ranging from 0.10 to 2.11 mm. Ultra-thin PTFE liners are available for reduced surface friction and braid-reinforced designs add flexibility, torque and column strength. Also offered are thermoplastic jackets, multidurometer designs, flexible tips, and subassembly and custom laser machining.
MicroLumen Inc.
Tampa, FL, USA +1 813 886 1200
www.microlumen.com [10]
Tubing set coiler
A tubing set coiling machine from S-Y-M Products Co. is designed to facilitate the assembly of medical tubing sets. According to the manufacturer, tubing products can be coiled and packaged three times faster using the Mini-Winder systems than by conventional methods. The manufacturer also reports that the system reduces the risk of injury to the operator’s hands and wrists during assembly operations. Equipped with foot and hand controls, the compact Mini-Winder system is designed for use in a cleanroom environment. During operation, a length of tubing is placed on the mandrel, which rotates the number of turns necessary to complete the coil. The speed, size of coil, number of rotations, direction of rotation, height of mandrel and other features are adjustable. After a tubing coil is completed, the mandrel retracts, enabling the operator to slide the finished product into a package without lifting it. All product contact surfaces are made of stainless steel or high-density plastic.
S-Y-M Products Co.
Litchfield, CT, USA +1 203 329 2469
www.symproducts.com [11]
PVC tubing
Tubing made from nontoxic medical-grade PVC from S.I.F.RA. Est SpA is suited for an array of medical device applications. Available as clear or frosted tubing, the Siftube line can be packaged coiled to specification or, alternatively, in cut-to-length segments. The tubing is conformance with USP biological specifications and meets the requirements of the European Pharmacopoeia. The manufacturer is certified to ISO 13485.
S.I.F.RA. Est SpA
Trieste, Italy +39 040 823602
www.sifraest.com [12]
Planetary tube cutter
A micro-scale planetary cutter can precisely cut rigid and semi-rigid medical tubing. Capable of reaching line speeds up to 30.5 m/min., the unit has a cut capacity from 2.03- to 12.7mm OD and supports up to 100 cuts per minute with cut-to-length tolerances of ±0.127 mm or less on tubing ranging from 25.4- to 457-mm in length. Part of a family of downstream extrusion equipment for medical applications from the Conair Group, the cutter can make up to 100 distortion-free and particulate-free cuts per minute while holding cut-to-length tolerances at ±0.127 mm. Tighter tolerances are possible with a dual-head model, which cuts both ends of the tubing at once, leaving only a short scrap piece.
To obtain the tight cut-to-length tolerances required by many medical applications, a dual head was developed to cut the part between the adjustable heads leaving a short scrap piece. Typically this scrap piece is no more than 1.5 to 2× longer than the tube diameter. The tubing is supported between the cutter heads to ensure length repeatability. A prefeed unit, which is integral to the cutter, supports the tube as its feeds it to the cutting mechanism, while ensuring that no cutting effects are reflected back to the die. In this way, even fully transparent tubing can be cut without unwanted annular die marks resulting from part stoppage.
The Conair Group Inc.
Cranberry Township, PA, USA +1 724 584 5500
www.conairgroup.com [13]
ePTFE tubing
Expanded PTFE (ePTFE) is produced by a controlled expansion of tubing. The result is chemically inert, microporous tube with properties not available in traditional PTFE tubes. Offered by Parker-TexMed, the tubing is expanded during manufacturing to create microscopic pores on its surface. As a result, the texture of ePTFE tubing resembles a fabric. When needed, the pores can be produced sufficiently close together to support the transfer of fluids without leakage.
The TexPore PTFE tube allows a migration of cells to grow on wounds and attach to the micro-pores of the tube wall, creating a temporary layer of cells to aid in the healing. Because the PTFE tube is permeable, it also can be used to dispense special drugs or dyes that need to be released into the body quickly or it can be used in applications where gasses and liquids must be separated. Applications of the tubing include tissue sampling, insulators, water purification and filtration.
The tubing is biocompatible, non-ageing, nontoxic and autoclavable. Controlled pore sizes and close-tolerance diameter measurement controls ensure that the tubes deliver continued optimal performance. The tubing is available in sizes ranging from 0.62 to 0.400-in. ID. The tubing is capable of withstanding operating temperatures as high as 500°F.
Parker-TexMed
Fort Worth, TX, USA +1 817 625 5081
www.texmed.us [14]
Platinum-cured tubing
Platinum-cured silicone tubing from Qosina Corp. has a 50A durometer and is offered with various IDs and ODs to meet the requirements of medical and pharmaceutical applications. The tubing can withstand repeated compression for consistent, dependable performance. According to the manufacturer, the tubing has smoother surfaces, higher purity, fewer leachables, better clarity and lower protein binding than similar tubing that has not been platinum cured. The manufacturer, which is certified to ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001:2004, also stocks a variety of other tubing for medical application. In addition, the firm supplies device firms with stock and custom OEM disposable components such as stock connectors, luers, clamps, adapters, stopocks, valves and spikes
Qosina Corp.
Edgewood, NY, USA +1 631 242 3000
www.qosina.com [15]