High-Performance Plastics on Tap for BASF at Compamed

For years, German industrial giant BASF’s slogan was, “We don’t make a lot of the products you buy; we make a lot of the products you buy better.” The chemical company with a reach across a number of industries of course counts healthcare and medical devices among its many service sectors. That means you’ll find BASF at the Compamed trade show in Düsseldorf, Germany, Nov. 14-16.

At this year’s show, BASF highlighted its antimicrobial HyGentic product portfolio (pictured left) and a number of high-performance plastics for medical technology.

HyGentic SBC is a transparent injection-moldable styrene butadiene block copolymer granulate material that contains antimicrobial silver ions. The granulate, according to company officials, can be used to manufacture medical devices such as inhalers or ventilation filters. HyGentic PA is an antimicrobial glass-fiber-reinforced, injection-moldable polyamide granulate that is exceptionally well suited to the production of operating elements for medical devices.

“These materials are extremely effective against a range of fungi and bacteria,” said Edgar Eichholz, business development manager of medical device materials for BASF. “Moreover, medical devices produced with HyGentic products can be disinfected by conventional procedures.”
BASF medical device execs noted that the company is working on a range of solutions for medical device and equipment surfaces that prevent potentially hazardous microbial buildup.

“Polymers and elastomers featuring our additives support the measures of professional hospital hygiene,” Eichholz said. This minimizes the risk that medical devices manufactured from these products will contribute to the spread of microbes, he added.

BASF’s medical devices group at its research and development center in Tarrytown, N.Y., provides customized application-focused formulations for clients. The team tests these formulations for antimicrobial effectiveness and incorporates them into a variety of materials that are adjusted for use on the equipment available.

“The selective combination of organic and inorganic antimicrobial ingredients produces synergy effects and boosts the efficiency of the individual components,” Eichholz explained. In the formulations obtained in this way, the individual components will act longer, for example, or faster. A dedicated microbiology team checks the various formulations obtained for antimicrobial effectiveness against relevant microorganisms, including multiresistant pathogens such as MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus).

Eichholz noted that BASF also is researching new generations of materials with novel surface effects for medical devices and equipment, and offers cooperation opportunities for medical device manufacturers.

On the high-performance thermoplastics side, the company’s PRO line is designed for the medtech industry. The line has two classes of materials: the Ultraform PRO range (POM: polyoxymethylene; polyacetal) and Ultradur B4520 PRO (PBT: polybutylene terephthalate). The tribological combination of plastic parts made of Ultraform PRO and Ultradur PRO translates, according to the company, into synergies particularly well suited for medtech needs. For example, insulin pens with excellent sliding friction properties can be produced with these materials. In this situation, Ultraform PRO accounts for low friction between the individual functional parts while Ultradur PRO, as the sliding member, prevents annoying noises during use.

Ultraform N2320 003 PRO is an injection-molding grade in the product range with a higher viscosity. With high impact resistance and stiffness, Ultraform N grade is just is designed for use in highly stressed elements such as functional parts in insulin pens, atomizing devices or dry-powder inhalers. Ultraform H4320 PRO has engineered for processing by extrusion at high ejection speeds. It is highly viscous, even more impact-resistant while also being very stiff as well as strong, and it displays good thermal stability, BASF engineers claim. Its target applications are plug-in connectors, handles of surgical instruments and other components that are made from semi-finished parts.

The material Ultradur B4520 PRO is BASF’s first PBT for injection-molded applications in medical technology. The high dimensional stability of PBT has been improved by adding optimized shrinkage behavior, so that this product now meets the stricter requirements in terms of reproducible dimensional accuracy made on components intended for medical devices, officials said, nothing that the material can be easily printed on and sterilized with ionizing gamma radiation or ethylene oxide.

Visitors to Compamed can find BASF in Booth G28, Hall 08B.