December, 2019


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Outsourcing Plasma Treatment for Surface Modification


By Jeff Ellliott I


n the medical device industry, plasma treatments are often uti- lized to solve problems that can-


not be resolved other ways. Whether attempting to improve adhesion of dissimilar materials, depositing coat- ings, cleaning surfaces, applying a protective coating that repels water, or enhancing surface wettability, plasma treatments often add signifi- cant value to medical devices. For many medical device manu-


facturers, the application of plasma- applied coatings and surface treat- ments can play a significant role in new product development, but also when upgrading legacy medical devices under 510(k) guidelines. As a result, the industry is


aggressively investigating and apply- ing plasma to products, such as well plates, microfluids, IOLs, stainless- steel guide wires, cardiac pacemaker or implantable cardioverter defibril- lators (ICDs), catheters, stents, and vascular surgical tools. “Medical device manufacturers


are continuously looking for unique ways to technologically advance their products to be the market leader,” says Michael Barden of PVA TePla, a company that designs and manufac- tures plasma systems, provides sur- face modification research and serves as a contract processing center. “Often, the top-tier products incorpo- rate some form of advanced coating


to functionalize the surface.” Contract Processing However, when medical device


manufacturers want plasma-treated parts or components without having


for contract processing is to improve the bonding power of chemical adhe- sives, whether metal to plastic, sili- con to glass, polymers to other poly- mers, biological content to microtiter plates, and even bonding to PTFE.


ence with plasma treatments, but may have heard that it can resolve issues or add value to products. “For many customers, plasma is


not the first thing they have tried, but they have read or heard ‘you may be able to use plasma’ to solve a spe- cific problem,” explains Barden. “They have a target for their materi- al or the chemistry, but very often they don’t know exactly how to get there. So, it can be somewhat experi- mental.” When this is the case, the initial


capital costs may be a deterrent. Even large medical device manufac- turers may opt to avoid purchasing equipment initially if the product is new, or a new version, and if produc- tion quantities are unknown. The other type of inquires


Inline , high-capacity continuous vacuum plasma system.


to invest in in-house equipment, the solution is to utilize a contract processor. In this approach, parts are sent in, treated and returned within one or two days, or up to a week for larger volumes. For small or infre- quent batches, this can lower the price per part significantly. The most common application


However, it is also often used to


clean, activate, chemically graft, and deposit a wide range of chemistries on the surface of parts or compo- nents. According to Barden, the com- panies that tend to opt for contract processing generally fall into two cat- egories. The first has little or no experi-


received are from companies where outsourcing is a core concept of their corporate philosophy. This could also be true for medical device companies that want to develop the product, but only assemble and do final packaging in-house, along with contract sub- assemblers.


Plasma Treatments According to Barden, many con-


tract processing projects involve using plasma to create a high-energy surface to resolve bonding issues with chemical adhesives.


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