MATERIALS | MEDICAL TUBING


Right: Extruded tubing requires the right coiling and reeling technology, says Maillefer


low as 0.002in (0.051mm) and inside diam- eters down to 0.010in (0.254mm). In addition, the company says that its PI tubing is now compliant with two important pieces of European legislation. Its PI and PI Glide products are now compliant with both Reach and EU MDR, said the company. Reach requires companies to manage the risks linked to the substances they manufacture and market in the European Union (EU).


EU MDR is the European Medical Device


Regulation, which ensures high standards of quality and safety for medical devices produced in – or supplied into – Europe. While Reach focuses on material composition, the EU MDR regulation is specific to medical devices. The company verified compliance of both


products through an independent lab. Bob Chaney, senior vice president of global sales and marketing at Zeus, said: “We are commit- ted to helping our customers overcome regulatory burdens. Without a compliant PI supplier, compa- nies may have to evaluate other materials or shelve plans to distribute products in Europe. Our compliant polyimide products provide peace of mind and can potentially save hundreds of thousands of dollars by avoiding material re-evalu- ation, product re-designs and launch delays.” Matt Allen, senior product manager at Zeus,


added: “We are the only supplier globally that can provide Reach and EU MDR compliant polyimide tubing.”


More swab sticks US-based Teel Plastics recently installed two Davis-Standard extrusion lines to raise its capacity for extruded swab sticks used for Covid-19 testing. In 2020, Teel produced around 500 million swab


sticks using both extrusion and injection moulding. Now, a new contract from the US Department of Defense will see it add more capacity – which includes the ability to produce an extra 66m


extruded swab sticks per month. In addition, Teel will manufacture profiles for a


proprietary respirator device used to treat patients in critical care for Covid-19. These will also be produced on Davis-Standard lines, including a new custom line. “Before the pandemic, we were the only US company to make diagnostic swabs needed for coronavirus testing,” said Christian Herrild, director of growth strategies for Teel. “This required us to react quickly to support the surge in test kits.” Davis-Standard provided a demo line almost


immediately – and two additional lines within 10 weeks of the order, he added. The new profile lines, which include extruders


through to downstream equipment, are applica- tion-specific with controls, feedscrews and machin- ery customised for Teel’s swab stick process.


Cutting and pulling Maillefer – a subsidiary of Davis-Standard – offers a number of components for pipe production lines and recently launched two new products for medical tubing: a puller/cutter, and a new cutter. The MPC 14 combines pulling and cutting in a single component. It is aimed at medical extrusion lines producing small diameter flexible tubes, from very short to very long lengths.


Plant extension for high purity tube grades


Danish medical polymers distributor and compounder Melitek has broken ground on the first stage of a planned expansion at its site at Nørre Alslev. The company is building a 2,000 sq


m of warehouse space for its Meliflex products and raw materials, which will provide an extra 1,800 tonnes of


20 PIPE & PROFILE EXTRUSION | May 2021


storage capacity. The extra warehouse space is scheduled to be ready in May. “We are seeing strong growth in our Meliflex products for the global healthcare market,” according to Kim Laursen, managing director of the company.


The company’s products include its


Meliflex XT tube grades, which are high purity polyolefin-based TPO and TPE materials designed for medical tubing.


Applications include infusion sets,


urology catheters and drainage tubing, said the company.


www.pipeandprofile.com


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IMAGE: MAILLEFER


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