Modern hospitals, clinics, research institutes, and schools have been transformed with the use of plastics. Not only does plastic lower the spread of infection, but it can also meet the stringent demands of modern medical facilities. When used in the injection molding process, they can deliver precise, lightweight and durable devices. Not to mention that the medical plastic molding process is inexpensive, especially when components, parts, and devices are produced in bulk.
A variety of resin options and molding techniques now allow more customization and precision for a number of plastic medical products. Unlike other materials, plastic can be injected into a mold to take almost any shape needed — whether it be for implants, beakers, surgery equipment, testing equipment, plastic prosthetics, syringes, valve connectors, or for MRI devices.
When it comes to design, everything from weight to flexibility, rigidity, and precision must be considered. In demanding applications, missing millimeters can dictate whether a part works correctly or not. Fortunately, there are ways experienced medical device manufacturers can ensure minimal variance and the highest accuracy and repeatability.
Essential Medical Plastic Molding Design Tips
Medical plastic molding offers design flexibility needed for complex designs seen in medical devices and equipment. Once a medical mold is designed to your unique geometry and measurements, it is precision machined from metal. Plastic resins are fed into a heated barrel, mixed, and melted. When the molten plastic is injected into the mold cavity, it cools and hardens into the medical plastic parts — achieving different features with just one injection.
While molds must avoid sharp corners and the wall thickness needs to be uniform, as technologies continue to advance the opportunities for more part complexity and tighter tolerances can be unlocked to ensure uniformity.
Any kind of item made to be placed in the body, such as an implant or similar device used in treatment, needs to be reliable even when exposed to liquid, vibration, heat, chemicals, corrosive substances, and movement. Any product defects can have drastic consequences — and there are a few elements your design team should consider before executing your plan.
A Few Elements to Consider in the Design Process Are:
- Selecting the parting line — One of the first considerations will be the parting line, or where the two halves of the mold come together. Here the direction the mold opens will be determined and material characteristics like plastic shrinkage will be considered.
- Uniform wall thickness — Keeping wall sections consistent is key to cavity material flow and even cooling. When different sections cool at different rates, this can result in defects like warping.
- Avoiding thick sections — Consider adding coring and ribbing to eliminate thick walls and/or add strength and support to features.
- Drafting the part — Not drafting a part can cause defects like drag marks and make part ejection damaging. Even the smallest features should have some draft, which helps in removing the finished part from the mold.
- Surface finishes — Creating your mold may include a variety of tools. In most cases, tooling marks need to be smoothed out or textured to ensure a consistent finish.
A collaborative injection molding partner helps you consider key product features needed for successful application — whether it be an easier grip to lower vibrations, or adjustments to improve the patient experience. You will need to consider how transportation, storage, and aging will impact the material.
From prototyping to full volume production runs, Omega Plastics has the capability and capacity to meet your design expectations. With our expert team, you can best estimate costs concerning design, testing, production, assembly, marketing, and distribution — and the number of parts that must be produced.
Succeed with a Range of Plastic Resins for Medical Applications
The success of your product depends on having the right physical properties. Medical plastic molding allows the use of a wide variety of available plastic materials for devices. While many plastics look the same, they can have drastically different performance qualities. You may choose your plastic based on whether your medical device requires high chemical resistance, UV and high temperature resilience over long periods of time, strength, disinfectant resistance, electrical properties, moisture absorption, and insulating properties.
Some common materials used for medical products include polyvinyl chloride, high-density polyethylene, polycarbonate, polyetherimide, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, and more. At Omega Plastics, our tooling engineers and molding technicians have the knowledge and expertise to recommend the right materials and provide you with highly successful project outcomes.
Plastic Medical Parts: A Low Cost, Sanitary Solution
In order for medical devices to reach the market, they must satisfy FDA regulations and ISO standards. To satisfy sterilization and cleanliness requirements — for both the devices themselves and their environment — Omega Plastics maintains on-site cleanroom facilities frequently used to eliminate contaminants from parts. We ensure that medical products can withstand sterilization and do not corrode when exposed to environmental factors.
What to Expect From Your Next Plastic Injection Molding Manufacturer
Getting your healthcare products into the marketplace is much more rigorous than for many other industries, so your next medical molding partner should take your product launch seriously from design to large-scale molding. At Omega Plastics, we specialize in efficient, versatile, and affordable low to medium-volume injection molding. When producing demanding products like medical devices, you can rest assured you will receive the level of attention you need for success.At Omega Plastics, we are proud to deliver quality products consistently and reliably.
Contact our team today to launch your medical product — and find innovative solutions to improve customer satisfaction, overcome any increased costs, and prevent unwanted delays.
