In hospitals and medical offices across the country, doctors and other medical professionals use a variety of products and pieces of equipment to treat patients. Many of these products are made of plastic and many of those are made through the process of medical dip molding.
Medical dip molding is just a sub-process of standard dip molding, which is used to create products in a variety of industries. However, dip molding is especially important in the world of medicine. Here’s why:
What It Is
In the medical dip molding process, a stainless-steel mandrel is used for stability purposes. The mandrel is placed on a preheated rack, carefully dipped into plastisol for a specified amount of time. The newly formed parts are then withdrawn from the liquid PVC, post heated, and cooled. Once they have fully cooled down, the new medical components are stripped off the mandrel and the product is complete. This process is key to creating such medical products as nasal cannulas, which are used to help patients who have trouble breathing get enough oxygen, as well as enema tips, stethoscope tubing, and more.
Meeting Strict Requirements
There are some strict requirements for plastic products being used in the medical field and rightly so. For example, any clear parts must have sufficient clarity and no micro-bubbles. Any blemishes such as sags, runs, and blobs can cause a rejection, as can any foreign material embedded on the wall of a molded part. Biocompatibility must also be considered. A quality plastics manufacturer using the dip molding process will be able to meet these requirements.
Production Capability
Large enough plastics manufacturers will have the capability to repeat the dip molding process effectively and efficiently, giving them massive capability for production. This allows these manufacturing firms to meet the production needs of the thousands of medical offices and hospitals across the country.
If you’re in need of plastic medical products made via the dip molding process, Piper Plastics is the place to call. We’ve been dip molding parts for medical devices for more than 40 years and we have the production capability to meet your needs. Give us a call at 800-966-9919 to learn more today!
