Facilitating Lighter, Stronger, and Durable Medical Devices—A Medtech Makers Q&A

By Sean Fenske, Editor-in-Chief

Often, when people think of fiber, clothing, home décor, fabrics, furniture, or other similar goods come to mind. It is not typically associated with medical device implants or technologies. However, fiber-based solutions can provide an array of benefits as the material of choice for those very types of products.

As surgeons and other healthcare professionals seek answers to the needs for minimally invasive surgery through the novel innovations that make the procedures possible, medical device manufacturers are seeking solutions from their supply partners. Enabling devices that are lighter, stronger, and more durable is the ultimate goal and the products being developed with fiber are meeting that need.

To share more insights on fiber-based orthopedic devices that are being used for a number of applications, Caroline Holtzman—Global Business Leader, Spectra® Medical Fibers, at Honeywell International responded to several questions in the following Q&A on the topic. She speaks to the factors driving the trend toward the use of fiber, the types of devices for which it’s being used, and its use in place of metal or plastic.

Sean Fenske: When it comes to medical device design, what’s driving the trend toward lighter, stronger, and longer-lasting products?

Caroline Holtzman: More and more, medical devices are being developed to enable less invasive, yet more sophisticated procedures. Due to efforts to prevent infection, improve outcomes, and achieve faster recovery times, surgeons are utilizing minimally invasive procedures more often than open operations wherever medically possible. The trend toward lighter, stronger, and longer-lasting medical devices is driven by the need for patient comfort, advances in minimally invasive surgery, and market demands for safety and durability. Since minimally invasive surgeries are on the rise, these complex procedures are often performed in smaller spaces and require access to areas more difficult to reach.

In addition, these procedures are being performed on younger patients. Also, the general population is living longer. Both of these factors mean medical devices need to last longer than in the past.

Finally, an aging population increases the demand for reliable, long-lasting devices to support extended care.

Materials, such as fiber, used in the development of these medical devices have a significant impact on durability and can also facilitate minimally invasive surgeries. As such, these fibers need to be lighter, stronger, and more durable than before.

Fenske: Is this trend more prominent for certain types of medical devices (such as implants) or is it of interest across much of medtech?

Holtzman: Minimally invasive surgery is growing in most specialty areas, such as orthopedics, cardiovascular, and more. With this growing trend, medical devices that are most impacted are implants or other in-dwelling types of devices. These devices require fibers, such as ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber, to be light, strong, and durable. However, there are other areas in medtech that also require these strong fibers that are not in-dwelling devices. An example of this is surgical robotics where the robot itself is utilizing these fibers (instead of steel cables) to get the flexibility and strength required to operate this equipment.

Fenske: In what ways are suppliers helping to enable solutions to meet this need? What offerings are they providing to help make this happen?

Holtzman: Suppliers, including Honeywell, continue to innovate products to meet a complex set of performance criteria. Honeywell offers our Spectra® Medical Grade (MG) fibers in a variety of thicknesses and colors to meet the needs of customers. We have over 20 different options, each with a targeted set of properties, providing medical device designers with an abundance of options to meet design criteria and specifications.

Fenske: How can fiber be used to replace metal or heavier plastic? What physical attributes does it offer to enable it to be used in place of those more traditional materials?

Holtzman: Spectra® MG BIO ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fiber offers significant advantages and design versatility over metal wire or lower-performing synthetic fibers. First, it offers higher durability as well as resistance to stress and flex fatigue in systems subjected to cyclic loading conditions. The surface properties and level of flexibility or rigidness can be finely targeted. The highest strength for an applicable weight and volume of space creates the strongest, most compact, and most robust solutions. Spectra® MG fiber is also biocompatible.

Fenske: For what types of applications is fiber being used in the medical device industry? Where should it be avoided or under what conditions is it not recommended?

Holtzman: High performance fibers like Spectra® MG BIO are the premier material of construction for high strength in-dwelling orthopedic sutures, surgical robots, catheters, cardiovascular devices, and more. Special consideration must be taken with some synthetic fibers if extreme heat is part of the manufacturing or operating process.

Fenske: What factors must be clearly understood when developing a solution with fiber? What considerations are there and what is often overlooked?

Holtzman: Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers must be processed into a structure for use in medical devices. These structures could be ropes, sutures, cords, ribbons, braids, tethers, sewing thread, knits, woven fabrics, and non-wovens. Size, strength, stretch, openness or tightness of the construction, level of rigidity or flexibility, and lubricity and surface feel are all key design criteria.

Fenske: Do you have any additional comments you’d like to share based on any of the topics we discussed or something you’d like to tell medical device manufacturers?

Holtzman: High-performance Spectra® MG BIO UHMWPE fibers offer unmatched versatility in medical device design, enabling a wide range of geometries, constructions, and performance properties. With ultra-high strength and biocompatibility, these fibers open limitless possibilities for creating advanced, durable, and customized medical solutions.

Spectra® fiber has been manufactured in the U.S. for over 30 years. Our team of experts is ready to offer support for new development and to drive innovation in the medical device space.

Click here to learn more about Honeywell Spectra® solutions