Plastics Designed And Engineered For Use In Medical Equipment

By Author: Woodrow Stewart
Total Articles: 16
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Where would the world be without plastics. The high molecular density and malleable material has so many applications that it would be impossible to imagine the world without them. Touching our everyday life from food and beverage packaging, packaging in general including disposable bags to panels in our motor cars and quite a few parts of spacecraft are molded and then machined from plastics.

There are a myriad different grades of polymer that make up the plastics we use today, from poly carbonates and High density polyethylene (HDPE) to Polyethylene

Terephthalate (PET) and poly propylenes and so on. Each of which have distinct properties and when a product is being designed the type and grade will be selected for the most desirable of qualities.

A medical device engineer will know all of this because in the medical field plastics have thousands of uses. From simple vacuum sealed bags for sterile gloves, dressings and instruments and syringes, to the material used in contact lenses, to the use of fiber optic cables and probes to prostheses. And these are just some applications, obviously the control panels ...
... and housing of most medical machines are made in part, if not completely, with plastic of some type or another.

In the design , production and application of plastics for medical applications there are few to rival this medical device design company . Medical device in San Diego compete is a very specific market, they are aware of the regulations imposed by the FDA and the fact that is they make errors and sterile equipment gets contaminated or the contact lenses either break down or change shape the consequences could be dire.

Eric R Larson is a world renowned plastics engineers and helps medical device design companies converting concepts into realities by series of interventions and specific tasks undertaken to determine the best plastic for this application considering all factors , strengths and tolerances required. Then determining the method to be used. (Pressure Molding, Blow molding, extrusion and so on) and then will assist with the design of the tooling for the machinery required to manufacture and produce the item concerned, whether it is to be a huge production run or just a few limited items.

On the Plasticsguy Blog is a series of simple and straightforward articles written by Eric R Larson which discusses in fairly non technical language the properties of a huge range of the plastics in current uses and in use in the medical industry.

For example the section on Polycarbonate is sub headed "the king of all things clear" and continues with" Polycarbonate is an amorphous thermoplastic with a fantastic balance of properties. It is stiff, strong, has good ductility and exceptional impact resistance" and discusses its use in such things as the canopies of fighter jets.

The blog is a work in progress there is a lot of detail already there demonstrating his in depth knowledge and expertise.

Thus all medical device companies in San Diego are encouraged to visit his blog and read his discussions on the various types of plastics and the applications they can be used for.

Plastics Guy is the blog of Eric R Larson full of useful data concerning plastics and their properties