Plastics Today (Media)

When the Medical Design & Manufacturing (MD&M) Exposition debuted in 1985, plastics were already well integrated in the medical technology ecosystem.

A seminal event in medical plastics occurred during World War II, when PVC replaced glass in IV sets. On the battlefield and in makeshift medical facilities, glass would break when it was jostled. PVC didn’t, and it instantly became the material of choice.

Plastics in general came to be known as the “miracle material” in the 1950s, as it progressively replaced metals, glass, and ceramics in countless applications.

So, a fair share of plastics processors exhibited their wares when the first MD&M show debuted at the Disneyland Hotel. As the show grew over the years — and relocated across the street from the House of Mouse to the Anaheim Convention Center — so did the participation of plastics processors, injection molding and extrusion equipment manufacturers, and medical-grade plastics suppliers, a reflection of plastics’ continuing role in advancing medical technology and patient safety.

The advent of plastic-based single-use medical devices reduced the risk of contamination posed by reusable sterilized devices, and injection molding considerably reduced production costs in high-volume applications. The material’s flexibility, among numerous other engineered properties, broadened design possibilities as it could be formed into countless shapes and products.

Micro-molding, which can produce precisely structured parts that are barely visible by the human eye, furthered minimally invasive surgery. And the advent of bioresorbable implants — temporary devices that degrade over time and pass through the body — eliminated the need for a second surgical procedure to remove the device, reducing healthcare costs and significantly improving patient safety.

These days, a great deal of medical innovation is happening in the 3D-printing space. Just since the beginning of this year, we have learned about an FDA-approved patient-specific cranial implant printed in PEEK — a lightweight polymer that has properties similar to human bone — and a 3D-printed plastic-based intraocular lens implant that could revolutionize cataract surgery.

The other hot topic involving medical plastics today is sustainability. A single hospital patient generates nearly 34 pounds of waste a day, one-quarter of which is plastic, according to one recent study. As much as 85% of used medical plastic waste is not contaminated, and medical device OEMs increasingly are exploring ways to repurpose that waste into the production of new plastic products.

For example, materials supplier Sabic has teamed up with a hospital in Belgium in a pilot project to convert medical plastic waste into pyrolysis oil to produce circular feedstock for plastics with the same properties as virgin medical-grade plastics made from fossil fuels.

Advances in materials science will continue to make plastics an indispensable element of medtech innovation. We’ve come a long way since PVC proved its mettle in WWII, and we will continue to chronicle that journey in PlasticsToday