ANAHEIM, CA, U.S.A., February 9, 2010: A series of advanced medical-grade elastomers provide the first fully practical alternative to PVC for many tubing applications, it was announced today by Teknor Apex Company at MD&M West (Booth 2115).
New Medalist® MD-500 Series compounds exhibit crystal clarity and mechanical properties comparable to those of PVC; provide similar clamp resilience and resistance to kinking and necking; have a PVC-like “feel”; and are substantially more flexible and significantly less dense. At the same time they undergo minimal color shift upon heat aging after exposure to gamma irradiation, the most severe type of sterilization. A typical compound in the series, Medalist MD-575, actually exhibits 70% less heat-aged color shift than a gamma-stabilized PVC compound of comparable hardness.
“Medalist MD-500 Series products outperform traditional PVC-alternative technologies by mirroring many of the performance and handling characteristics of flexible PVC tubing compounds, while providing distinct advantages in some key capabilities,” said new business development specialist Elliott Pritikin. “These new crystal clear elastomers add to Teknor Apex’s 30-year track record in tubing compounds, one that also includes such flexible-PVC innovations as gamma-stable, non-DEHP plasticized, and even non-plasticized compounds.”
Medalist MD-500 Series elastomers have been tested for compliance with ISO 10993-5 cytotoxicity standards and are free of animal-derived materials, phthalates, latex, silicones, and additives not directly required for medical applications. Standard formulations include five grades, with Shore A hardness (15 sec.) ranging from 53 to 86.
The Medalist program for medical manufacturers now includes 38 standard high-purity elastomer compounds, along with a comprehensive body of test data and resources for designers and processors. Compounds are available with Shore A hardness from 5 to 87 and include clear, translucent, and opaque formulations.
An expandable registered binder with extensive data on Medalist products is available to qualified OEMs, designers, and plastics processors in the medical device and healthcare product industries. It can be requested from the Medalist website at www.medalistmd.com or by emailing Teknor Apex at medalist@teknorapex.com.
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