Solvay's Radel®, an alternative metal solution. In the past 30 years, plastics have become more and more widely used in the medical field, especially Radel® polyphenylsulfone (PPSU). This is a sulfone polymer.
High-performance medical materials make patients more satisfied
Compared with other medical devices, such as long-term implants, the reasons for replacing metal with plastic are very good: first, because plastic is lighter, the design is more flexible, and it is resistant to disinfection for reusable medical equipment It is also crucial. It is a highly tolerant polymer, and the objects made with it will not be affected after more than 1,000 steam sterilizations.
Although for medical device manufacturers, the importance of lightweight may not be as critical as it is in the automotive and aerospace industries, but this feature still plays an important role in promoting the application of plastics in the medical field. "A tray filled with various medical devices is actually very heavy," the person in charge explained. "Making instruments and trays from plastic is definitely beneficial from an ergonomic point of view."
As for design flexibility, plastics can help reduce the overall cost of equipment by adopting more creative and adaptable designs. "This is completely different from designing metal products. This is a completely new method for medical devices," the person added. He also talked about the trend of today's surgery toward minimally invasive. "If patients can be discharged on the day of surgery, everyone's satisfaction will increase. By increasing design flexibility, plastics make certain medical innovations in this area possible."
Polymers make medical devices colorful
In addition, it has the coloring ability that metal does not. The use of colored medical devices, for example, when trying knee replacement, different colors allow doctors to easily distinguish the size, so as to quickly choose the right patient parts. "For customers, coloring ability is a very important factor," the relevant person said affirmatively. "For example, one of our customers wanted to develop a new medical device with seven touch points, each of which must have a different color. This can only be done with plastic."
In many medical fields-whether it is a polymer dialysis membrane for improving the efficiency of hemodialysis, or a blister pack material film to help ensure the efficacy of medicine-plastic polymers provide a wider range of solutions for the medical community to help Thousands of people live better and healthier lives.