Materials specialist, Junkosha, has launched the first ultra-small peelable heat shrink tubing (PHST) and high-shrink ratio PHST at MD&M West.

As part of its wider campaign to be at the forefront of precision engineered, miniaturised micro catheters and guide wires, Junkosha’s peelable heat shrink solutions enable access to parts of the vascular system with minimal impact on the patient.

Junkosha’s ultra-small PHST is the only suitable tubing for laminating jacket coating to tiny guide wires. These miniature guide wires are used by healthcare professionals when navigating to vessels. The high-shrink ratio PHST (2:1) is ideal for processes where tapered microcatheter shafts are used or where tolerance take-up is an issue.

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. This capability has seen great uptake in the most demanding of applications where small French sizes are required. At this year’s MD&M West, we will showcase two such products that have been developed with Neurovascular and Cardiovascular catheters and guide wires in mind.

“Our aim is to answer customers’ unmet needs through technology innovation. As a part of this, we are being asked for solutions that take small to the next level. As medical professionals push the boundaries of what they require for minimally invasive procedures, we have taken the lead in designing solutions for a miniaturised medical technology future.”

Robert LaDuca, CEO of Duke Empirical, an innovative Medical Device Manufacturer adds: “As medical technology advances, device designers worldwide are being challenged to produce smaller and thinner micro catheters and guide wires which provide clinicians the ability to reach and treat previously inaccessible anatomical targets. The extension of minimally invasive treatment options for previously untreatable patient populations has created a need for new tools used in catheter manufacturing, such as the peelable heat shrink tubing products provided by Junkosha. In our experience, these new tools have been cost-effective in reducing scrap rates while increasing throughput by shortening assembly time.

“In addition, these new products by Junkosha enable the manufacture of products which previously would not have been possible due to the challenges of heat shrink removal from delicate soft polymers used in certain high-performance catheters,” continues LaDuca. “In the future, we anticipate the utilisation of miniaturised catheter solutions will be widely adopted by most medical manufacturers working on the leading edge of microcatheter technology.”