Unique PHST innovations within the medical technology industry provide manufacturers with the ability to lower costs

MD&M West: Stand number 2893

Materials specialist and pioneer of peelable heat shrink tubing (PHST) technology, Junkosha, is using this year's MD&M West event to launch its unique, and industry first, 2.5:1 FEP PHST solution. Thanks to its 65 years' experience in materials science especially Fluoroploymers, Junkosha is leading the charge for future tubing innovations. Recent developments not only answer the call for increasingly smaller procedures, but also enable catheter manufacturers to go beyond what has previously been possible by streamlining their workflows and processes resulting in vital cost savings and increased margins. With the relentless push from the healthcare sector to lower costs across the board, Junkosha is enabling catheter manufacturers to achieve lower cost of ownership through innovation.

Junkosha's new 2.5:1 PHST solution has been designed to provide catheter manufacturers with the highest shrink ratio currently possible in Peelable FEP thanks to its proprietary design techniques, enabling customers (in turn) to save time and money through a reduced number of shrink processes. In addition, thanks to PHST's “take-up”, it allows the use of cost-effective, lower tolerance, baseline materials in the manufacturing process, and enables the ability to reflow these easily into a single smooth construct. All this results in a reduced total cost of ownership for the catheter manufacturer, which in turn increases the margin available.

Joe Rowan, President and CEO of USA and Europe for Junkosha, explains: “We have a deep heritage in materials science and fluoropolymers, which means our solutions are at the leading edge of what is possible. With the launch of our unique 2.5:1 PHST, we are leading the charge for catheter manufacturers to achieve increased margins through a rationalisation of processes and the manipulation of the baseline materials thanks to PHST’s ability to reflow these quickly and efficiently. Saving time and money throughout the workflow, this provides a reinvestment opportunity for catheter manufacturers at a time when total cost of ownership is a key metric for the wider medical device sector.

“At MD&M West, we will be demonstrating for the first time how 2.5:1 PHST works, not only in terms of the important cost savings, but also in the procedures it enables,” adds Rowan. “As we head towards a future that also includes active catheters, it is critical that as an industry we constantly innovate, not only to enable more intricate procedures, but also to deliver savings throughout the production cycle.”

Robert LaDuca, CEO of Duke Empirical, Inc., an innovative Medical Device Manufacturer, adds: “This new launch from Junkosha not only provides time savings, but also cost benefits to medical product manufacturers that perform reflow lamination processes which are common in many reinforced catheters. Overall, this new PHST 2.5:1 solution has the highest shrink ratio currently available in FEP, meaning a reduction in reflow operations down from multiple to one is now possible.

“There are a number of applications where this new high ratio PHST technology will enable better processes and cost savings, including neurovascular catheters which have tapered diameters for the floppy distal segments, and proximal sections with larger diameters for pushable support,” adds LaDuca. “Due to these catheters mainly being braid reinforced proximally and coil reinforced distally, there is a requirement for a peelable heat shrink solution that can accommodate in a single step the compression required to provide significant bond strength of the materials. Junkosha’s 2.5:1 PHST is the ideal solution for this.”

MD&M West is the world’s largest medical technology event with more than 1,900 cutting-edge suppliers showcasing the latest solutions in medical device components, materials, plastics, contract manufacturing, manufacturing equipment, automation and research and development. Held between 5-7th February, MD&M West is located at the Anaheim Convention Centre in Anaheim, California.

For further information about MD&M West, click here: https://mdmwest.mddionline.com/.
For further information around Junkosha’s market leading PHST solutions, and to order a sample, click here: https://junflon.com/.

ENDS

This release has been issued on behalf of Junkosha by Kredo Consulting Ltd. For further information please contact Andy Parker on andy@kredoconsulting.com or +44 (0) 1242 650573 or Steve Thomas on phil@kredoconsulting.com or +44 (0)1242 650574.

Notes to Editors:

Junkosha is looking forward to a busy 2019 as peelable heat shrink is increasingly adopted into the mainstream catheter market. They also welcome a recent resolution in intellectual property issues involving Zeus that will ensure freedom of choice for medical technology customers.

Junkosha are pioneers of sophisticated fluoropolymer application technologies across medical device and microwave interconnect sectors. With three operations in Japan, including its headquarters as well as sites in the US, UK and China, it is one of the best kept advanced technology secrets outside of Japan. The company provides tube and fitting products, including generic resin tubes, fluoropolymer tubes, high-barrier tubes, flexible multi-layered tubes, industrial hoses, degassing modules, heat-shrinkable tubes, and the market leading peelable heat shrink tubes. It also provides wire and cable products, including microwave interconnects, robot cables, high data rate cables, camera link cable assemblies, ultrafine coaxial cables and assemblies, cables for clean environments, and general wires and cables.