Molding: Comparing Liquid Silicone Rubber and High Consistency Rubber for Medical Applications

Medical device OEMs often face a tough decision: Use HCR or LSR for medical device component manufacturing?

Creating a Quality Management Protocol for Molded Plastics Used in Medical Device Manufacturing

Inspection, measurement, and documentation are critical elements.

Metal Injection Molding Offers OEMs Edge and Safety with Disposables

Instruments used in minimally invasive surgeries today often require elaborate features, and greater attention to detail in the product-design process.

Micromolding: Achieving Exacting Medical Device Manufacturing Requirements

Micromolding can be seen as the latest technological innovation that enables the design, manufacture, and clinical use of groundbreaking medical devices.

Options for Reducing Friction When Using Silicone Elastomers

Silicone has a long and proven history of use with medical devices and can provide many benefits, from flexibility to cushioning. When working with some medical devices, however,...

3D Printing: SLS Creates New Potential for Design in Medical Technology

Laser sintering technology enables medical technology designers to print plastic objects for feasibility studies within a very short time. The functional prototypes...

Why Reel-to-Reel Molding Might Be Right for Medical Components

Reel-to-reel insert molding can prove a more efficient process for design engineers when it comes to lowering assembly costs. The process is best suited for products that require dimensional stability and need to function in harsh environments.

Design for Manufacturing: Tips for Molding Components in Silicone

Device functionality is usually the starting point when designing devices. Another element that needs to be considered when designing devices and their subsequent components...

MIM and 3D Printing: Precision Cleaning and Product Finishing of Medical Devices

As the miniaturization trend continues to take the medical device world by storm, manufacturing with metal injection molding (MIM) and additive processes such...

How Second Stage Speed Influences the Molding Process

Hold speed or hold velocity? How many machines today have it, and what does it do to the process?

Research Collaboration Could Reshape Injection Molding

As Ralph Colby peers at the microscope image in front of him, he thinks he can make them out — “shish kebabs,” as polymer scientists call them. Nobody knows for sure what they are,...

Ensuring Injection Molding Quality for Medical Devices

Plastics are incredibly versatile. There are thousands of types available to satisfy a myriad of medical applications. Yet, certain plastics present special challenges during the...

Digital Manufacturing Helps Revolutionize Surgical Stapler

Modern science has allowed surgeons to fix the human body amazingly fast yet leave behind only small traces where repairs were performed. One of the more commonly used methods to...

Material Advances for Additive Manufacturing of Bioresorbable Polymeric Medical Devices

Although we’ve heard a lot about the promise of additive manufacturing (AM), the reality is that this technology has not yet caused a revolution in...

Two-Component Molding Can Solve Medical Design Challenges and Reduce Costs

Device manufacturers count on their supply chain partners for answers. What can be adjusted, how can we add value, and what methods can be used to streamline...

Microextrusion Tubing Advances Help Push Medical Device Boundaries

Over the past five years, technological advances have enabled product applications for microextrusion to penetrate into the medical OEM arena. Simply speaking, micro now...

Making the Gas Assist Plastic Molding Process Work for Medical Applications

Gas assist molding offers a variety of process and design advantages for medical equipment applications. It produces parts that are smooth and extremely cleanable,...

Laser Direct Structuring for Sensor Manufacturing

Every day the world’s leading medical device companies rely upon laser direct structuring (LDS) to meet their most demanding design and performance requirements. Millions of electronic...

Optimizing Performance and Value of Medical Devices with the Right Plastic Processing Technology

Engineering thermoplastics are widely used to manufacture a broad range of medical devices, from single-use syringes and applicators to...

Advantages of Servo-Actuated Molds for Manufacturing Medical Devices

Electric servo motors are rapidly replacing mechanical, hydraulic, and pneumatic actuation systems in plastic injection molds, particularly those used in medical...

The Critical Role of Material Performance and Processing Data

Successfully using liquid silicone rubber (LSR) and other advanced silicone technologies in medical devices often depends upon access to a deep and broad repository of research...

Polycarbonates Play Pivotal Role in Growing Disposable Medical Device Market

The definition of a disposable device can vary. At one end of the spectrum are completely disposable, single-use devices that are designed for use on one patient...

On-Demand Injection Molding: 3D Printed Assistive Devices for the Blind

Helping blind people gain a sense of vision — and doing so through their tongues — sounds like pure science fiction. It's now a reality, however, thanks to the...

Additive Manufacturing Revolutionizes Medical Device Production

For years, the medical device industry has been leading the adoption of additive manufacturing. With the evolution of high-precision printers that span a large offering of...

Silicone Pump Segments for Medication and Feeding Pumps

They are vitally important, make therapy possible, and they have become an integral part in hospitals or home-care settings: medication and feeding pumps supply patients with essential...

2016 Contest Winner Redefines the Way We Measure Blood Pressure

The 14th annual “Create the Future” Design Contest for engineers, students, and entrepreneurs worldwide, sponsored by COMSOL and Mouser Electronics, attracted more than...

Emerging Technologies: Challenge or Opportunity for the Medical Device Industry?

Visiongain predicts the global medical devices market will reach $398 billion in 2017.¹ To win share in this growing market, device companies need to...

Laser Texturing Continues to Evolve in Medical Applications

In the medical device industry, surface texture has become an important aspect of product design. It not only provides the means to refine the physical appearance of an item, but...

A Guide to Thermoforming Heavy-Gage, Complex Parts: From Material Selection to Custom Tooling

In many instances, thermoforming of heavy-gauge plastics (thicknesses of 1.5 mm/.060 in. or greater) is the technology of choice for manufacturers...