Silicones in Medical Technology – a Glimpse of Tomorrow, Today
SILPURAN® and ELASTOSIL® products from WACKER represent a wide range of silicone solutions for innovative products in everyday medical applications. From respirator masks to tubing to grips and handles for medical equipment, WACKER silicones bring future-proof high tech to medical technology.
The high-quality silicone elastomers in our SILPURAN® and ELASTOSIL® series offer a clean, reliable solution for the medical and pharmaceutical industries, thanks to their suitability for sterilization and their excellent resistance to chemicals and physical stress – entirely without the use of stabilizers.
SILPURAN® and ELASTOSIL® liquid and solid silicone rubber grades possess excellent mechanical properties, resist fatigue and are pleasantly soft. Using injection and compression molding techniques, manufacturers can process these compounds to make respirators, resuscitution bag, instrument grips, seals and valves.
Extrudable SILPURAN® and ELASTOSIL® solid silicone rubber grades lend products – tubing in particular – considerable tear strength, tremendous elasticity and outstanding elastic recovery.
Silicone Elastomers: A Quiet Partner in Many Highly Sensitive Applications
Ventilation Masks
Masks must fit properly and be both comfortable and tolerated well by the skin. That means they have to remain elastic and flexible, and no material is more suitable for that than silicone. But before they can be used in masks, silicone elastomers must meet a range of additional requirements: they must not contain any plasticizers, they must be long lasting and wear resistant, and they must be reusable and easy to sterilize. Injection molding offers a quick, economical method of manufacturing silicone rubber ventilation masks and cushions for ventilation masks.
Nasal Prongs – As Soft As They Are Secure
Newborns are without a doubt the most sensitive beneficiaries of WACKER silicones in medical technology. When combined with high-tech hospital equipment, nasal prongs made from extra-soft grades of SILPURAN® silicone elastomer allow babies to breathe easier and ease parents’ minds from the very first minute of their tiny new life.
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Resuscitator Bags
Using injection or compression molding techniques, manufacturers can process SILPURAN® and ELASTOSIL® liquid and solid silicone rubber to create medical equipment, including manual resuscitator bags hallmarked by considerable elasticity, outstanding elastic recovery and biocompatibility.
Tubing
Absolute reliability in every centimeter: SILPURAN® and ELASTOSIL® solid silicone rubber grades lend outstanding mechanical properties to drainage, peristalsis and breathing tubes, while rendering them sterilizable. In addition, these products also make catheters incredibly elastic and exceptionally well tolerated by the skin.
Catheter Tubing
If catheters are to be as gentle on the patient as possible, they have to be exceptionally soft and flexible. Extrudable SILPURAN® and ELASTOSIL® solid silicone rubber products are ideal for manufacturing biocompatible, highly elastic catheters. Their smooth surfaces make them especially well tolerated and reduce the risk of encrustation and biofilm formation, effectively heading off irritation and allergic reactions.
Handles for Surgical Instruments
SILPURAN® and ELASTOSIL® liquid and solid silicone rubber grades ensure that instrument grips will feel pleasant, can be sterilized repeatedly and will last a long time. Another non-trivial advantage: WACKER silicone rubber can be made in various colors through the use of pigment pastes. The resulting color-coded handles give hospital personnel a simple way of assigning instruments to various individuals and/or devices – and of making sure they end up in the right hands after sterilization.
Seals, Valves, Filters and Membranes
SILPURAN® and ELASTOSIL® liquid and solid silicone rubber grades can be processed using injection or compression molding techniques to create seals and valves that can withstand considerable stress, are absolutely leak-proof and can be safely sterilized. Specialty silicone seals in disposable syringes or insulin pumps can dispense uniform doses of active substances. In needle-free injection systems, for instance, silicone elastomers are used as membranes, as they withstand considerable stress for long periods and are highly elastic yet absolutely leak-proof.
Fast, Efficient and Cost-Effective
The new ELASTOSIL® LR 5040 product line was developed especially for manufacturing silicone components in sensitive baby-care and medical applications. Hallmarks of these products include not only their exceptional purity – they also save a great deal of time and money, as they allow silicone processors to dispense with the additional post-curing step.
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