3 Material Considerations for Injection Molding Medical Devices

a medical bottle cap

While injection molding is a common manufacturing process, it’s especially used excessively in the medical industry, providing an array of benefits for a number of applications. Precisely, medical-grade plastics injection molding is used for medical components, devices, facility and laboratory equipment, and more.

Here’s our plastic injection molding expert outlining 3 main material considerations for injection molding medical devices.

What will it be made of?

From PEEK and polysulfone to TPEs (thermoplastic elastomers) and LSR (liquid silicone rubber), there’s no limit to the choices of resins and rubbers. Due to this wide range of materials, there’s a wide range of lubricities, biocompatibilities, opacities, durometers, and resistances to heat, wear and tear, chemicals, radiation, and steam.

Design engineers aren’t limited to a single material – thanks to over-molding. With a soft silicone rubber grip, over-molding a stiff thermoplastic component is very much possible.

Will the part be disposable or will it need to be repeatedly sterilized?

Compared to the products that need to withstand the abuse from the chosen sterilization methods, single-use products are meant to be incinerated, offering you more leeway with material choice. If a device should be steam-sterilized, it should be made from materials that are highly resistant to both hydrolysis and heat, and have a high melting temperature. On the flip side, EtO (ethylene oxide) sterilization requires incredible chemical resistance. E-beam, gamma, and UV methods restrict your choices to other materials. Lastly, only some niche materials work for devices that may potentially be sterilized by a range of methods throughout their life.

small base
What is it supposed to do?

Are you designing a device that’s a part of a button or knob on a piece of life-supporting equipment or a monitoring device, or meant to remain implanted in a patient for multiple years? Perhaps it’s a disposable patient-connected device. Every use implies specifically applied stresses over a product’s lifetime, chemical exposure, and operating temperatures. Everything from the shape of the part to the material device is determined by this. Therefore, it’s important to have a well-defined list of requirements at the beginning of the design process. This won’t just help you, but will also assist your medical injection molding manufacturer with their mold design and DFM review.

Get a one-stop plastic injection molding service from PTMS

PTMS is a professional injection mold maker in China specializing in custom plastic parts mass production.

Reach out to them directly for more information on their injection molding services!

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