Plastics & Additives

One of my favorite places to try to find out what's going on in American medical care is a blog operated by the Columbia Journalism Review called "The Second Opinion: Examining Media Coverage of Heatlhcare". It's a blunt look at why we get so confused about medical costs, Obamacare, hospital ratings, and other subjects in the news. It's written by Trudy Lieberman, a former economics writer for Consumer Reports, and Sibyl Shalo Wilmont, a nurse and writer.

Here are some examples of their posts:

The drive to reduce medical costs in the United States is triggering more patient care in their homes, where costs are lower and there are reduced risks to acquire potentially deadly infections, such as MRSA and other penicillin-resistant bacteria.

A new "smart catheter" senses the start of an infection and automatically releases an anti-bacterial substance. It is being tested at the University of Michigan in an effort to stop catheter-related blood and urinary tract infections.

Dipankar Koley, the principal researcher on the project, said the technology can be applied to catheters inserted into blood vessels and the urinary tract.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly in the spotlight in trouble spots throughout the world, but they are also finding increased use in civilian applications. In parallel, suppliers of advanced thermoplastics such as Sabic are addressing demands for aerospace grade materials that meet a number of stringent operational requirements.

Transfer molding with a thermosetting compound and a proprietary tool is being positioned as an alternative to use of thermoplastics and standard injection molding in the production of some semiconductor devices.

Dutch firm Sencio BV (Nijmegen) says its nCapsulate technology can deliver better isotropy and thermomechanical stability than thermoplastics and standard injection molding.

Two new members of BASF's biodegradable plastics family have been introduced: a thermoformable version for food trays and the first injection-molding grade for complex and high quality packaging, including thin-wall applications.

Prices rose and the spot resin markets were busy again last week. Demand continued to improve, particularly for polypropylene (PP), and while resin continued to flow at a relatively swift pace, well-priced offers were snatched up, according to spot-trading platform, The Plastics Exchange (TPE). TPE anticipated a modest decrease in May PP contracts.

NatureWorks is targeting ABS replacement in PC/ABS in major durable applications including automotive interiors and business machines.

"The standard grade of ABS is a straight drop in for ABS in existing tooling," said Frank Diodato, business director, durables, at NatureWorks, in an interview. The cost is about $1/lb, comparable to ABS in most areas of the world.

Fiber made from ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fiber has been employed as a ballistic material in a amphibious armored personnel vehicle produced in Turkey. The fiber is used in the form of a tape made from Dyneema UHMWPE supplied by DSM Dyneema (Urmond, The Netherlands).

Remember the blog I wrote almost exactly one year ago about a headline in Manufacturing & Technology News that caught my eye: "Government Is Pushing Full Speed Ahead On Additive Manufacturing." The editorial by Richard A.