TECHNOLOGY | MEDICAL MOULDING
Benvic Luc & Bel makes the connection
Compounding group Benvic acquired Italian medical moulder Luc & Bel in 2020. Benvic says its new subsidiary has developed a safety connection solution for infusion medicine containers. A critical step during connection between infusion lines and a medi- cine container is when the connecting spike pierces the container’s connec- tor cap. Luc & Bel designed a patent- ed solution to secure the connection, and reduce the risk of contamination involving a snap-off spike diaphragm which is sterilised by ETO prior to assembly. A filter with different gauges, 1.2 µm and 2 µm, maintains sterilisation during storage. Before connection, the user pulls out a protective element by holding a dedicated strap, and then engages the spike into the connection. A pre-cut helps make cap removal easy
Safety connection for infusion medicine containers reduces contamination risk
and reliable. The risk of exposure to contaminating agents is reduced almost to zero and makes the spike connecting step to the medicine container fully secure, says Benvic. The device is manufactured in Luc
Powder injection moulding for dental applications is another field of significant interest for Arburg in medical technology. Examples of such injection- moulded metal or ceramic products are dental root pins (jaw implants) and dental crowns. According to Arburg, the Freeformer and APF achieve entirely new plastic applications – including for use within the human body. This includes the individualisation of medication that could be optimised in terms of dosage and type of release of the active substance, or even of combinations of active substances, to meet the requirements of patients and therapy. A research group of the School of Pharmacy at the University of East Anglia in the UK uses a Freeformer for producing person- alised tablets. Another example is resorbable, FDA-approved original material from partner Evonik which is made to imitate human bone. A Freeformer 200-3X machine has processed the Resomer LR 706 material – a composite made up of poly L-lactide- co-D,L-lactide and ß-TCP – to implant plates for use directly in the body as a means of repairing fractures, says Manka. Further applications are medical PLLA (Purasorb PL18) to produce facial and cranial implants or TPE (Medalist MD 12130H from Teknor Apex) to make individually adapted ventilation masks. The products can also consist of several components, such as a hard/soft combina-
32 INJECTION WORLD | September 2021
& Bel’s class 8 clean room facility with precision moulding technology and fully automated assembly lines with end-of-line testing. The safety connection can manage all types of medicine, including UV sensitive ones.
tion, and be equipped with a support structure, if required. SABIC’s high-temperature plastic Ultem 1004 is
ideal for medical technology due to its versatile sterilisation possibilities and biocompatibility (ISO 10993, USP Class VI). As an example, this material can be used to additively manufacture patient- specific sawing templates, which are then used as fixing aids during knee surgeries. At Chinaplas 2021, Arburg demonstrated the fully automated manufacturing of pipette tips. A hybrid Allrounder 470 H with a hot runner mould produced 48 tips per 6s cycle. Arburg developed the turnkey system together with local automation partners, and it has been designed to produce several product variants. The turnkey system has a modular design that makes it easily adaptable to changing requirements and different product variants. The automation consists of three modules for removal, camera inspection and order picking. In addition, a flexible Arburg micro-production cell can produce extremely small parts and micro implants required for minimally invasive proce- dures, using a precise, economical and reproduc- ible production process. As an example, an electric Allrounder 270 A, equipped with a size 5 micro injection unit, an 8 mm screw and an LSR cartridge with a capacity of 290 mm, produced delicate LSR caps for microswitches, each weighing just 0.009g.
www.injectionworld.com
�
IMAGE: BENVIC LUC & BEL
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56
