Medical grade silicone has many uses within industry, but there are several important elements to consider before using this material. Many issues to consider relate to appropriate usage and the different treatments that silicone can undergo to prepare it for medical use. Other concerns relate to post-production and proper packaging. Read on to explore three important things to know about medical grade silicone.
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1. Coatings and Finishes
Medical grade silicone can be used as a coating for plastic, fabric, glass and metal items and components. This coating can be vulcanized for a smooth finish. These types of dip coatings can be used on many devices to enhance smoothness, such as syringes and cannulas to improve patient comfort. The thickness of the coating can be altered by adjusting the number of dips and also altering the concentration of silicone.
2. Sheeting and Calendaring
Silicone can be used for calendared sheeting in order to produce a range of products. These can be vulcanized and reinforced or not, as required, thanks to the ability to color and finish the silicone in different ways. Because it has the potential for great strength, silicone can be moulded into silicone sheeting to be used in many ways in the medical industry.
For example, this type of sheeting can be used to create mesh for artificial heart valves or even potentially create functioning artificial hearts made from silicone elastomer.
When creating silicone products, injection moulding is often used, such as that provided by http://www.meadex.co.uk/silicone-mouldings. When performed to an expert level, the process creates silicone products for use across the whole of the medical industry.
The silicone mouldings need to be properly cared for throughout the entire process, including pre-production and preparation, during the moulding process, and in post-production, such as in the packaging of the silicone parts ready for dispatch.
3. Proper Preparation
Not only must the silicone moulding be performed correctly, but the packaging must also be properly thought through to ensure safety. Silicone for the medical industry must be packaged and sterilized properly to retain its necessary properties.
In silicone processing, it is vital that silicone is sterilized before shipping out to its destination because the components will be used to create medical equipment. Therefore, the right way to pack, assemble and sterilize the silicone parts must be given careful consideration.