Speciality polymers supplier Solvay announced in mid-2016 that it has facilitated the development of a tissue removal device using its medical-grade resin Ixef Para.
Speciality polymers supplier Solvay announced in mid-2016 that it has facilitated the development of a tissue removal device using its medical-grade resin Ixef Para.
The medical-grade resin facilitates surgical instrument for tonsil and adenoid removal.
The tissue removal device was created by surgical instruments company Elasso and is used for adenoid and tonsil operations. The Solvay resin has high flexural strength and flow, making it a suitable alternative to metal, as well as optimal surgical efficacy, without compromising the rigidity of its key components. The Ixef Para resin is a 50% glass fibre-reinforced compound.
All of the Ixef Para grades are gamma-stabilised, allowing them to withstand sterilisation by high-energy gamma radiation without exhibiting significant changes in appearance or physical properties.
Oliver Lecerf, chief operation officer for Elasso Surgical Instruments said: “We pursued a very ambitious design for our single-use Elasso instrument, which relies on very long, thin forceps-like arms fabricated from Solvay’s high-performance polymer rather than metal to ensure better leverage, reach and control.
"We tested several very high-end polymers, but only Ixef GS-1022 PARA resin delivered the necessary combination of high flow in the mould and outstanding strength and stiffness in the finished part to give the forceps the leverage that our design targeted.”
Many pieces of large medical equipment are also switching from less-intensive engineering materials such as PC/ABS to more specialised materials that can handle repeated sterilisation.