Materials: Medical-Grade Compounds with Degradation Resistance and Enhanced for Laser Marking and Welding

Two new series of medical-grade compounds will be launched by Clariant, Charlotte, N.C., at this year’s MD&M West, further expanding the company’s Mevopur portfolio. In fact, at this year’s medical design and manufacturing tradeshow the company is celebrating the 10^th anniversary of Mevopur family of products and services encompassing compounds and concentrates, medical and pharma regulatory support, and support with change control embedded in the GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) quality system. This under the theme, The Color of Innovation – The Science of Design.  The two new added lines of compounds are:

 ▪  A Mevopur line of compounds specially formulated to resist degradation caused by exposure to high humidity and temperature. The new technology is especially important in applications like catheters that are made of resins that incorporate high loadings of radiopaque metals. These are typically polyether block amides (PEBA) and aliphatic TPU.

These radiopaque fillers make devices visible under X-ray fluoroscopy, but they also are known to exacerbate hydrolytic degradation, which can affect critical performance properties and compromise patient safety.

 ▪ A Mevopur line of compounds that reportedly demonstrates Clariant’s capability to modify a given resin family to bring enhanced functionality. Compounds of opaque and transparent ABS have been formulated with antistatic properties, high contrast laser-marking; optically transparent laser-absorbing and -transmitting compounds for laser-welding, and gloss black with improved scratch resistance. While the initial functional compounds are mainly ABS, similar modification and tailoring can be applied to other resins.

All Mevopur materials – including color and additive concentrates and ‘ready-to-use’ polymer compounds – are produced in three dedicated EN:ISO13485-2016 registered facilities and have been pre-tested to support compliance needs of customers in the U.S. and Europe. In just the last few years, Clariant has invested heavily to boost compounding capacity at its plant in Lewiston, Maine, and will soon announce expansions in Asia as well, according to global head of marketing & business development Steve Duckworth. “Even after 10 years, no other company in the plastics industry has anything like Movopur. We apply multi-industry problem-solving expertise grounded in deep technical and regulatory knowledge to help ensure the safety, compliance and performance of our customers’ products throughout the manufacturing process and beyond—so they can get to market on time and on budget.”