Confluent Medical opens catheter development center

Confluent Medical Technologies, a global leader in contract manufacturing of specialized medical devices, has opened its new Complex Catheter Design and Development Center in Austin, Texas. The state-of-the-art, rapid-prototyping, development and pilot facility greatly expands Confluent’s ability to provide customers with electrophysiology and neurovascular catheters, as well as complex delivery systems for structural heart and vascular applications.

The Austin Catheter Development Center will support customers from initial design to rapid-prototyping, regulatory support and through initial pilot builds for clinical trials. For high-volume production, the Austin facility works closely with Confluent’s manufacturing center in Costa Rica.

“We’re extremely excited about our new Austin Catheter Development Center,” says Confluent CEO and President Dean Schauer. “It greatly expands our capability to develop new, ready-for-production catheter designs and solidifies our position as the industry leader in providing fully integrated solutions to medical device customers.”

Leveraging 20-plus years of catheter development and manufacturing experience, Confluent offers a wide range of in-house catheter designs, from catheter components and balloon catheters to articulating devices and complex delivery systems. Processes include complex braided or coil-reinforced shafts, laser welding, over molding, balloon blowing, RF tip forming, robotic adhesives, multi-lumen extrusions, and thermal bonding.

Confluent partners with customers to reach product design freeze while planning for production. The company’s advanced design and development system ensures products are ready for manufacturing. While production processes are piloted at the new Austin facility, duplicate equipment at Confluent’s manufacturing center in Costa Rica ensures a smooth transition to high-volume production.