Trelleborg’s innovations in medical device components on display

On display will be Trelleborg’s newly acquired, advanced capabilities in thermoplastic injection molding. The company will also highlight its drug-eluting capabilities, rapid development center, tubing and hose, and molded parts, as well as its multicomponent and micromolding offerings.

Andrew Gaillard, global commercial director of healthcare & medical, says: “At the show we will introduce some enhanced capabilities available thanks to our newest acquisition, EirMed. Now part of the Trelleborg family, this acquisition enables us to partner with customers on projects involving thermoplastic injection molding, assembly, and packaging. Attendees can also learn about our new offerings for bioresorbable polymers.

“Bioresorbables are materials used for implantable medical devices and once treatment is complete, they are absorbed by the body and therefore do not need to be removed. This technology shortens patient’s recovery time and hospital stays and is less invasive.”

Additionally, attendees can find out the latest news and updates about Trelleborg’s Rapid Development Center. The center is the company’s latest capability to help healthcare and medical customers expedite their new product development process, minimize production costs, quicken development time, and ensure superior-quality products.

Chris Tellers, director of the Rapid Development Center, says: “We partner with some of the world’s largest medical device companies to develop solutions across a range of categories, including cardiovascular, diabetes, and neurology. Since launching the Rapid Development Center in August of 2021, we have shipped over 20,000 parts, completed 60 tools and over 103 unique parts. We have also completed thermoplastic tooling projects and offered machined parts when appropriate. We can turn around projects in a matter of days for when speed really counts.”

Another highlight will be Trelleborg Healthcare & Medical’s extensive selection of its specialty extruded tubing and hose products. Tubing is available in a full range of sizes and is custom designed with customers to meet their individual application needs.

Gaillard, continues: “We engineer novel extrusion solutions for our customers’ specific tube and hosing applications. Examples include multi-lumen, silicone foam extrusions, and kink-resistant tubing for a variety of critical applications, such as pacemaker and neuromodulation leads and urological implants. Additionally, Trelleborg’s GeoTrans technology enables the production of extrusion profiles that can change throughout the length of the extrusion, supporting unique, customer-specific designs. The expansion of our facility in Northborough, Massachusetts will increase our manufacturing capacities for silicone extrusion and molding and offer enhanced flexible manufacturing solutions.”

Also on display will be molded parts used in implantable healthcare and medical devices alongside multicomponent and micromolding capabilities.

“One of our most well-accepted capabilities is the combination of Liquid Silicone Rubber (LSR) with plastics. Commonly referred to as 2C or 2-shot, multicomponent injection molding enables our LSR experts to employ highly sophisticated tool and process engineering to develop innovative solutions that combine two or more individual materials into one fully bonded, robust component,” Gaillard concludes.