Did you know that thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) can be used for a wide variety of applications in the medical industry? This high-performance elastomer has multiple medical benefits which allow it to be used for:

• Thin walled, flexible tubing
• Luers, connectors and stopcocks
• Catheters
• Films and fabric coatings
• Component housings
• Soft touch grips
• Healthcare devices
• Wearables

As a worldwide leader in providing engineering polymers, Amco Polymers is more than familiar with TPU and how Texin®, one of its high-performance medical grades from Covestro, can help support our customers. Read on to learn about the benefits of this thermoplastic elastomer for healthcare.

Proven Biocompatibility

Before selecting a material for developing your medical application, you have to know if it requires biocompatibility – the ability to perform when in contact with living systems or tissue. This unique quality is essential to the design and implementation of most medical devices and components. To determine if a material meets those standards, you’ll want to check if it is ISO 10993-1 certified.

Covestro’s Texin® is a biocompatible grade of TPU and meets certain test requirements of ISO 10993-1: “Biological Evaluation of Health Care Devices”. Categories include the following:

1. Skin contact
2. Up to 24 hours contact with circulating blood, tissue, bone, and dentin
3. Up to 30 days contact with mucosal membrane, compromised surfaces, and blood path, indirect.

Always be sure that you never expect a material to surpass its ISO requirements. If your application exceeds the ISO standards listed above, look into an alternative to TPU.

Sterilization-Compatibility

Another reason that medical grades of TPU like Texin® are suitable for medical applications is their sterilization-compatibility. Reusable medical devices must be sterilized regularly to prevent exposing patients and staff to the growth and spread of diseases.

Covestro’s Texin® can be sterilized by ethylene oxide gas, dry heat, E-beam and Gamma irradiation. A note on Gamma irradiation; it may change the color of the material. This material cannot be sterilized through steam autoclaving or boiling water.

Excellent Resistances

Healthcare environments are demanding on materials, and without proper resistances, medical devices won’t always last or perform well. Covestro’s Texin® has several resistances that allow it to perform well in medical applications.

The chemical resistances of Texin® give an application resistance to lipids as well as cleaning and disinfectant agents. Additionally, Texin®’s microbe resistance resists the growth of algae, fungi, mold and bacteria. If you’re using Texin® for tubing, its kink resistance also helps prevent tube blockages. Finally, Texin® is able to keep up to the demands of medical applications through excellent tear, wear, stain and abrasion resistances.

Excellent Strength and Elastic Properties

Even at minimal wall thickness, Texin® has excellent tensile strength and unique elastic properties. As a thermoplastic polyurethane, Texin® has “rubbery” qualities that other polymers don’t. One of these is TPU’s “elastic memory,” which maintains tension and makes the material unlikely to leak at joints.

These elastic properties also make TPU beneficial for patient comfort. Texin®’s High Moisture Vapor Transmission Rate (MVTR) makes it suitable for: comfortable gowns, linens, drapes and breathable wound dressings as a fabric coating.

Clarity

Visibility is important for the success of many medical devices. Texin®’s high clarity provides enhanced visual observation for end-users. As with most thermoplastics, however, additives can alter material properties to achieve different results. If desired, this TPU can be made radio-opaque with barium sulphate.

At Amco Polymers, our dedicated product managers and technical engineers work closely with customers to develop the right formulation of TPU. We pride ourselves on offering technical knowledge, lab resources and compounding facilities to assist in your most challenging application development needs.

Are you interested in Texin® or other medical-grade materials?

As a global distributor, Amco offers its customers the best, widest range of engineering polymers at the most competitive prices. While we provide performance TPU to a variety of industries, our customers know they can depend on our value, support, assistance and consistent reliability. That’s what makes Amco the Clear Choice in Resin Distribution.

Tell us about your needs and we can select the right material for your application, together.