Junkosha Unveils Latest Heat Shrink Technology

Materials specialist and pioneer of peelable heat shrink tubing (PHST) technology, Junkosha, used the world’s largest medical technology event (MD&M West) as the launchpad for its latest innovations, the first ultra-small PHST and high-shrink ratio PHST on the market. As part of its wider campaign to be at the forefront of precision engineered, miniaturized micro catheters and guide wires, Junkosha is leading the charge toward peelable heat shrink solutions that enable access to the most exacting parts of the vasculature with minimal impact on the patient.
 
Junkosha’s ultra-small PHST is the only suitable tubing for laminating jacket coating to tiny guide wires, for example 0.011” and 0.014”, leveraging the fact that PHST has a recovered ID down to 0.009”. These miniature guide wires are perfect for applications including the navigation of vessels to reach a lesion or vessel segment within, for example, the brain or heart. The high-shrink ratio PHST (2:1) is ideal for processes where tapered microcatheter shafts are used or where tolerance take-up is an issue. 
 
Joe Rowan, President and CEO of USA and Europe for Junkosha, explained: “We have a deep heritage in materials science and fluoropolymers, which means our solutions are at the leading edge of what is possible. This capability has seen great uptake in the most demanding of applications where small French sizes are required. At this year’s MD&M West, we will showcase two such products that have been developed with Neurovascular and Cardiovascular catheters and guide wires in mind.
 
“Our aim is to answer customers’ unmet needs through technology innovation. As a part of this, we are being asked for solutions that take small to the next level. As medical professionals push the boundaries of what they require for minimally invasive procedures, we have taken the lead in designing solutions for a miniaturized medical technology future.”
 
Robert LaDuca, CEO of Duke Empirical Inc., added: “As medical technology advances, device designers worldwide are being challenged to produce smaller and thinner micro catheters and guide wires which provide clinicians the ability to reach and treat previously inaccessible anatomical targets. The extension of minimally invasive treatment options for previously untreatable patient populations has created a need for new tools used in catheter manufacturing, such as the peelable heat shrink tubing products provided by Junkosha. In our experience, these new tools have been cost-effective in reducing scrap rates while increasing throughput by shortening assembly time.
 
“In addition, these new products by Junkosha enable the manufacture of products which previously would not have been possible due to the challenges of heat shrink removal from delicate soft polymers used in certain high-performance catheters,” continued LaDuca. “In the future, we anticipate the utilization of miniaturized catheter solutions will be widely adopted by most medical manufacturers working on the leading edge of microcatheter technology.”