Plastic Extrusion for Medical Tubing

The process of plastic extrusion has provided the healthcare industry with the ability to produce medical tubing, which is quick, easy, clean and flexible, for many decades now. When introduced, it quickly replaced the more traditional materials such as rubber and glass and has proven to be extremely beneficial to the industry. Medical tubing is created via the plastic extrusion process and can be either single or co-extrusion (which is where multiple layers of plastic are forced through together). It is produced separately to other plastic extrusions, to ensure the product remains sterile during the whole process. The most common plastic used is PVC, however TPU, TPE and TPU can also all be used. Why Use Plastic Extrusion? There are a number or reasons that this process has been so successfully adopted for use in the healthcare industry. Plastic, especially PVC, is a very flexible material to work with and therefore is brilliant for use in multiple applications. Tubing can be produced that ranges from extremely hard and ridged right through to soft and flexible, so the applications it can be used in are vast. Plastic is also a very easy material to clean and medical tubing must be sterile and hygienic for the safety of all patients. While single use is good at stopping viruses and germs from spreading, the ability to sterilise medical tubing and use it again is even more valuable. Certain plastics can withstand the extremely high heat needed to do this and so can be reused. It is even possible to extrude plastic medical tubes with an anti-bacterial coating. What is Medical Tubing Used for? Medical tubing is used to deliver fluid or oxygen to and from a patient. Examples of where this is used is in IV’s, catheters, cannulas, feeding tubes, and in ventilators. So, the ability to product tubing in various rigidities is a massive benefit.

For more information on Plastic Extrusion for Medical Tubing talk to Rayda Plastics Ltd