MATERIALS FOR HEALTHCARE
Improving the safety and health of our society - both for people and the environment
Specialty plastics for healthcare - Materials that matter
New healthcare technologies and products have the potential to revolutionize the healthcare industry and improve the well-being of society. By providing materials, which comply with medical plastics, we at Premix enable the healthcare industry to create innovations for medical care, health monitoring, and accurate laboratory analyses. This is how we carry out our responsibility for a safe society and healthcare sector supply chains.
Premix’s electrically conductive plastic compounds and black and white masterbatches are suitable for a broad range of applications, such as:
Our electrically conductive pipette tip materials enable accurate liquid level sensing, a critical feature in automated liquid handling. Electrically conductive plastics have also successfully replaced metals in various applications, such as in x-ray-compatible ECG electrodes. Today, we produce plastic materials for drug delivery devices, body monitoring sensors, and electrostatic control in healthcare facilities. Our white masterbatches for pharma packaging have been well-known within the pharmaceutical industry since the early 1990s.
We aim to create new sustainable ways of working with the industry’s key operators - whether it involves functional polymer-based materials with a lower carbon footprint or innovations within recycling and circularity.
The specific areas of our expertise are processing demanding materials and functional fillers, such as carbon black, fibers, additives, and renewable materials. With our polymer modification know-how, we can create medical grades meeting the highest requirements and standards.
In addition to the global healthcare supply chain, we create plastic materials also for various other industries, e.g., the energy sector and material handling.
Controlling static electricity in laboratory automation and liquid handling systems
Static electricity may cause problems in liquid handling instruments, e.g., attract dust, break delicate instruments, or charge the consumables and make them fly around or stick to each other.
The problems and risks caused by static electricity can be eliminated by replacing insulative plastic materials with non-charging, electrically conductive plastics.
Premix’s material portfolio covers, e.g., materials for pipette tips and pipette tip racks.
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Tubes and hoses for medical environments
Tubes and hoses designed for medical environments prioritize hygiene, durability, and safety. They're engineered to withstand the demands of a healthcare environment, offering reliability and safety for hospital environments, healthcare professionals, and patients.
Electrically conductive plastic materials play a crucial role in medical hoses, especially in applications where static discharge can pose risks. In medical environments where sensitive electronic equipment or flammable substances are present, preventing static electricity buildup is essential.
These conductive plastic materials are engineered with special carbon black that enables electrical conductivity while maintaining the necessary properties for medical hoses. They help dissipate static charges, reducing the risk of sparking or interference with sensitive medical devices.
Premix's PRE-ELEC® compounds are engineered to withstand the demands of healthcare facilities, offering reliability and safety for hospital environments. PRE-ELEC® compounds can be used in both mono and multi-layer structures, which brings more freedom to the tube design. In multilayer tubes, inner and outer layers can have different chemical and/or physical properties. Conductive hoses are typically used to convey hospital gases, usually in a combination of multiple materials, such as PVC (outer layer) and TPU (inner liner). PRE-ELEC® compounds provide constant conductivity and improve bending resistance.
Customer case: Toppi Oy | Medical tubes
Our customer Toppi Oy was looking for a new material to replace electrically conductive PVC in their medical hoses. As we are talking about the health and well-being of people, the list of requirements was long and demanding.
"Medical hoses are all about purity and consistent electrical properties. The antistatic material is in direct contact with the flammable medical gases, and this underlines the validation of the highest quality material. Premix's PRE-ELEC® material was the right choice, no doubt", says Toppi’s Purchasing Manager, Mr. Tomi Toppi.
In this cooperation, the inner layer of the medical hose was made with PRE-ELEC® TPU instead of the previously used PVC. In addition to the health-related properties, replacing PVC with TPU brings other substantial advantages. The hose is antistatic and more flexible (even when pressured), its bending angle is better, and the material is softer, giving the hose a pleasant feel. Furthermore, the hose remains soft and flexible even in colder temperatures, adding ease of use. The hose is EN ISO 5359 compliant and recyclable. Its wear resistance is good, too.
“We’ve received excellent feedback from the market and are happy to market this pioneering product further. Premix’s top quality and reliable PRE-ELEC® material creates full confidence in the product,” says Toppi’s Purchasing Manager, Mr. Tomi Toppi.
Toppi is a Plastic extrusion company manufacturing high-quality hoses, tubes, and profiles for industrial and consumer needs. Toppi Oy was established in 1953 and is 100% owned and managed by the Toppi family.