Medical device supplier takes a chance on Moldflon

After playing host to the global plastics industry last month during K 2013, Messe Düsseldorf turns its attention to all things medical, as Medica returns to the vast fairgrounds this week. The largest medical tradeshow in the world, Medica also pays lip service to the suppliers of products and services to industry via the co-located Compamed event, which typically includes a good number of plastic tubing makers, molders and contract manufacturers. A regular participant, Raumedic (Helmbrechts, Germany) is once again showcasing its extrusion, molding, and assembly expertise to the medical technology industry at the show, but it's adding some new material to its usual pitch, as well. The company reached an agreement with ElringKlinger Kunststofftechnik (Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany) last year to develop medical products using Moldflon, a thermoplastic formulated by ElringKlinger that reportedly retains the properties of PTFE while adding some attributes.

Moldflon improves on conventional PTFE, says Raumedic, because it can be processed from the melt, an advantage in terms of cost and processability. Other features of the material include chemical and thermal resistance at high and low temperatures and lubricity.

The ability to "process PTFE thermoplastically creates entirely new production possibilities in medical engineering," according to Ralf Ziembinski, Director, Business Unit, Extrusion/Tubing, at Raumedic. The company says that it will focus on the development and manufacture of tubing, molded parts, and catheters in specific application areas using the material.

Medica runs from Nov. 20 to 23 with Compamed ending a day earlier.