Product performance, manufacturability and cost considerations with coating selections.
Selecting optimal coating(s) for wire-based components incorporated into medical devices can be a challenging task for even the most experienced design team due to the numerous and everchanging options promoted in the marketplace. Sandvik’s Palm Coast production unit offers more than forty (40) different polymer based stand-alone dip coating options which in many cases are combined to formulate a customer focused solution. Information available from brochures or digital media platforms offers some insight into options available to the product designer. However, product performance, manufacturability and cost considerations are usually not as well defined. Our goal for this webinar is to share our experience with those that are keen to learn more about the key interactive parameters that can help drive a better product design decision to get reliable long-time use of the products.
In general, polymer coatings are applied to metal/alloy wire for medical devices to provide either electrical isolation for signal/power transmission, a lubricious surface layer for reducing tissue damage and patient trauma and/or enhance the biocompatible nature of the wire-based component. Further processing is required to convert the coated wire into an active component in the device. Downstream operations can include forming operations such as coiling that add mechanical stress to the material system, selective coating removal for electrical connectivity and stranding to improve the flexibility of the overall lead system among other downstream processes. In order to select the optimal coating for the operation, it is critical to understand the follow-on procedures.
In the webinar, different polymer coating material types will be reviewed with respect to general properties and other primary reasons for selection based on the application or process considerations. The discussion will be limited to dip coating polymer materials vs other techniques such as extrusion or spray coating. Some generalized case studies will be included to help explain the method that has been useful to define the final polymer coating options.
Come join us on September 18 and listen in as we feed you with 20+ years of coating and material selection experience to the medical device segment. We will reserve plenty of time for questions at the end of the webinar. The event is well suited for employees involved in design and manufacturing challenges from all experience levels. We hope to see you there!
Presented by
Gary Davies,
Production and business unit manager Medical, Sandvik Palm Coast
Gary is a Sandvik employee for 18 years and employed in the specialty materials field for 30 years and holds Masters Degrees in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering and Business Administration.
Gary is production and business unit manager at the Sandvik site in Palm Coast, Florida where the company produces precision wire with the diameter 0,01 mm – 1,0 mm (0,0004” -0,0393”). Gary is part of many customer projects where his materials and coatings experience inspires and supports the customers to design a process and product that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Gary is also part of R&D projects to develop new materials used in wire-based components and has close cooperation with Sandvik’s world leading R&D department.
Gene Kleinschmit,
Senior Product Manager
Gene is a Sandvik Employee for 22 years. During his long career within the company he has been involved in countless customer projects. Today Gene is the senior product manager and part of the team that develop new and refines existing products to meet future needs, especially those related to remote monitoring.
Josh Geitner,
Engineering and Facilities Manager
Josh is leading the engineering and facility team and is relatively new at Sandvik. Together with his team he supports the customers with value added operations and operational services development in order to get lean, sustainable and rapid prototyping and manufacturing. Together with the production team they make art of wire drawing and components manufacturing.
