Micron-accurate Coating Equal to Medical Device Tolerances With most biomedical procedures, success is measured in fractions of an inch–more commonly, microns. Exact friction-free insertion of guidewires, hypotubes, catheters, cannulas, stents, balloons, drug-delivery catheters, cameras, and tissue samplers is critical to the success and safety of every procedure. PTFE-coated guidewires are often used in the first…
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Recall is the last word a biomedical business wants to hear. But that is what struck the guidewire industry last year after a voluntary recall – that the FDA classified as Class 1– for stainless steel guidewires going back to April 2013. The problem was poor adhesion of an aqueous PFOA-free PTFE coating that resulted in flakes…
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Why the Solution to PTFE Adhesion to Guidewires is Not a Material Swap As seen in Q-Med The demand by the EPA that manufacturers eliminate PFOA from their PTFE formulations by 2015 appears related to a series of crises for some medical manufacturers due to loss of coating adhesion on guidewires. A recent FDA Class I recall notice states: “There…
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Surface Solutions Group is Expanding! SSG is moving in 2014 to a new location called our “Campus.” The new facility is being purposely built for the application, research and development of coatings for the medical device industry. This represents a 5x expansion in floor space, from 6,500 to 34,000 square feet. The new facility will…
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Initiation into the medical device industry for Orion Industries (Chicago) came in the form of a VHS tape. In the late 1970s, the company was contracted by medical manufacturer Baxter to develop a coating for early endoscopic instruments that provided permanent electrical insulation. New to the medical device industry, Orion required a better understanding of the finished…
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