What to look for at MD&M West

Thousands of medical device engineers will converge Feb. 12 to 14 at MD&M West in Anaheim, CA to participate in the biggest industry event in the world's biggest medical market. It will be an opportunity to see the leading new plastics developments and trends that will be shaping business in 2013 and beyond.

Here's part one of our quick look at the most significant developments to look for at the show:

Environmentally preferable plastics. Leaders such as Kaiser Permanente and the Cleveland Clinic are moving away from flexible plastics that contain phthalate plasticizers. At booth 3213, PolyOne has developed reFlex

New materials target IV bags. (PolyOne)

300 bioplasticizer which contains 99% bio-based content. It's described as a one-for-one replacement for general-purpose plasticizers used in flexible vinyl formulations such as IV bags and tubing. Kraton Performance Polymers (booth 618) has developed Enhanced Rubber Segment (ERS) polymers that improve compatibility with polypropylene, which is also making inroads as a PVC replacement in IV bags. Polycarbonate, which contains bisphenol A, will also be a target in some applications, such as blood management equipment. Eastman Chemical (booth 2515) has promoted its copolyester for those applications.

Super silicones. As a class of materials, there have probably been more improvements to silicones in recent years than any other group as they continue to penetrate medical applications primarily for performance reasons, but also as a rubber replacement. The leading global players are all at MD&M West: Dow Corning, Momentive, Shin-Etsu, Bluestar Silicones, Wacker and NuSil. Wacker, for example, has developed special silicones for long-term implants. One of the most significant trends in silicones is the development of low-temperature curing grades that allow overmolding with thermoplastics using high-speed injection molding equipment. One of the best demonstrations at the colocated MD&M event at Anaheim will be at the Engel booth (3715) where a bottle stopper will be overmolded with a newly developed ultraviolet vulcanization process.

Micro Molding.  The trend toward minimally invasive surgery is forcing development of tiny medical device components, spawning a coterie of specialists that often design and build their own proprietary molding equipment.  A large number of molders claim competence in micro molding, but a true elite tier of companies has emerged that can meet increasingly diminishing tolerance requirements on a mass molded component. One example is Accumold (booth 2846), which brought new cleanrooms on line last year for micro insert molding, two-shot, and other types of medical and electronics micro molding. Other micro molders at MD&M West include Makuta Technics (2392), MTD Micro Molding (2295), Micromold (3173), Rapidwerks (2921), and microPEP (2311). Many general-purpose molders at the show also have micromolding capabilities.  

(In the next part, these trends at MD&M West will be explored: development of the mega molders, in-home care, increased plastics implant applications, anitmicrobials, cost containment and specialized technology. )