Healthcare plastic molding requires some of the most carefully coordinated design specifications, material selections, and process controls. When manufacturing delicate components that are exposed to potentially biohazardous situations, production companies and OEM customers need to work together to ensure components are easily manufacturable.
Triad Plastic Technologies highlights design, material, and production considerations for healthcare plastic molding.
Design Considerations
The healthcare and medical field rely on several kinds of injection molded products, and they all largely rely on the same design considerations. Injection molding lends itself to producing complex components at scale, but geometry must support consistent, repeatable manufacturing.
The most common design considerations that design teams should include are: uniform wall thickness, rounded transitions, proper draft, supportive gate placement, and a cooling design that helps maintain dimensional stability.
A great way to gain insight into an injection molding design is by utilizing Mold-Flow analysis which predicts filling behavior while simultaneously guiding gate placement and cooling strategy before tooling occurs.
Part of design considerations is tolerance of the component. Medical components, at times, may require tighter dimensional control. However, tolerances should be accurate of the component’s role within a device or apparatus. It’s critical for design teams to define dimensions that govern assembly, sealing, motion, or other performance requirements. From there, align tooling, process controls, and inspection for those features.
The Importance of Material Selection
Material selection for healthcare plastic molding matters just as much as design considerations. The difference between the right material and the wrong one can impact not just a manufacturing program, but healthcare professionals and in specific applications, patient care.
| Material | Potential Application | Why It’s Considered |
|---|---|---|
| PP | Syringe components, containers, lab products | Strong chemical resistance, hinge performance |
| PC | Clear components, connectors, equipment parts | Optical clarity and good impact resistance |
| ABS | Diagnostic device and equipment housings | Rigid, strong impact resistance, and easily moldable |
| PPSU | Reusable, steam sterilized components | Selected grades offer high temp performance |
| PEEK | High-performance components, selected implant applications | Performs well in high performance applications |
Equating Process Control to Successful Production
Healthcare plastic molding relies on design and material considerations, but if a strong production process doesn’t support those two items, they’re rendered moot. It’s critical to establish process controls early in a manufacturing program to support design, materials, but also repeatable production.
Production plans should address approved material grades/suppliers, material handling and contamination prevention, define molding parameters and in-process monitoring, lot traceability, record keeping, dimensional/functional acceptance criteria, and any change control processes.
With injection molding focused on healthcare applications, part of the process should specify cleanliness rather than leaving it to assumption. This means, if applicable, utilizing clean room molding capabilities.
Connect with Triad Plastic Technologies for your Healthcare Plastic Molding Operations
Triad Plastic Technologies is a leading custom injection molding manufacturer serving OEMs, supplier programs, and other customer sources across multiple industries. Since 1988, our team in our Reno, Nevada facility has designed, engineered, manufactured, and shipped out high-quality components.
Healthcare plastic molding is one of our areas of specialties, largely due to our Clean Room molding capabilities. We’ve partnered with medical OEMs all throughout the United States to create the necessary molded components that the healthcare industry relies on.
Triad Plastic Technologies’ quality management systems were recently recertified ISO 9001and ISO 13485, both of which matter greatly for healthcare plastic molding.
Contact our team today for more information on our injection molding operations and how we can serve your healthcare molding needs.