Plastic injection molding in the medical industry has become standard practice for creating high-quality, tight tolerance, precision parts. The process is highly controlled and repeatable, offering many advantages and making it highly effective for manufacturing.
Injection Molding in the Medical Industry
The process of plastic injection molding offers a cost-effective and efficient technique for producing high-quality, precise medical and pharmaceutical products. This method is widely employed in creating a vast array of plastic components used in the medical industry, such as respiratory, anesthesia, testing, and lab equipment.
In the medical and pharmaceutical industries, plastic injection molding can be a useful method for everything from prototype parts to high-volume production parts. Medical-grade plastics used in injection molding must fulfill strict biocompatibility, chemical resistance, and sterilization requirements as designated by the customer. Furthermore, these plastics can resist chemicals and high temperatures to ensure medical standards are met for a specific application.
Medical Device Applications
Diverse medical device applications benefit from injection molding. Here are some common medical device applications of injection molding:
Diagnostic Equipment
Medical laboratories and research facilities use various types of diagnostic equipment that can be produced using plastic injection molding. These components include handheld units, lab testing components, vials, medical device components, and dental equipment.
Handheld and Portable Units
Injection molding can be used for a variety of handheld and portable medical equipment including:
Surgical tools and devices. Injection-molded handles on surgical tools deliver an ergonomic and comfortable grip to ensure the utmost precision during procedures. Portable monitors also rely on injection-molded components that can hold up against sterilization, harsh cleaning chemicals, and other environmental conditions.
Automated External Defibrillators (AED) units. These life-saving devices can be overmolded to protect against shock, moisture, impact, UV exposure, and other threats present in medical environments.
Communication Devices. EMTs and other medical professionals rely on handheld communication devices for everyday operations. Overmolding these devices with the proper plastic material can protect sensitive internal components from particulates, shock, moisture, vibration, and more.
Lab Testing Components
Various types of lab testing components can be made using injection molding. For example, the process is often used to produce diagnostic meters used to read chemical test strips and check patients’ glucose levels, cholesterol levels, and more. Injection molding is also used to make the plastic handle attached to biopsy needles.
Vials
Injection-molded plastic vials are used for numerous reasons throughout the medical industry, including syringes, tamper proof caps, medicine droppers, testers, blood sampling, urine sampling, single-dose medication storage, and much more.
Medical Device Components
Medical devices of various types rely on quality injection-molded components for optimal durability, chemical resistance, and light weight. Common examples of injection-molded medical device components include:
- Drug delivery systems
- Patient monitoring systems
- Infrastructure devices for hospital rooms
- Wound care devices
Dental Equipment
The dental industry benefits from injection molding due to its ability to produce dental tools and devices that are resistant to wet environments and tasteless/odorless for patients. Injection molding can be used to create coverings for dental drills and other patient care devices. It can also be used to make dental appliances such as polishing tips, as well as disposable dental equipment like mouth props.
Benefits of Injection Molding for Medical Devices
There are many benefits of using injection molding for medical device production. These include:
Cost-Effective Production
Injection molding allows for producing high volumes of plastic parts at a low cost per unit, making it suitable for large-quantity production runs starting at 1-2 million units, especially for single use applications.
High Precision and Consistency
The high precision and accuracy of injection molding make it an ideal choice for producing plastic medical parts. The process ensures that each piece created is identical to the last, reducing the risk of errors and inconsistencies.
Design Flexibility
Plastic injection molding allows for producing complex parts with intricate details and features. This makes it an ideal choice for medical device manufacturers looking to create parts with specific functions and requirements.
There are also a wide range of materials offering a variety of properties including heat resistance, chemical resistance, strength, durability and flexibility.
Custom Medical Components and Parts by D&M Plastics
D&M Plastics’ medical injection molding expertise and technology is the go-to partner for custom plastic injection molding for the medical industry.
We are ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 13485:2016 certified, proving our capacity and dedication to catering to clients’ unique needs. ISO 13485 is an international standard ensuring that medical devices are manufactured and supplied with appropriate safety and efficacy. This is particularly crucial for companies that design, produce, and install medical devices, including their components and accessories.
D&M Plastics has produced high-precision injection-molded components for over 50 years! Every project benefits from our team’s technical expertise, uncompromising commitment, and excellence. Our engineers are experienced in creating parts that are easily manufactured and at finding creative solutions for challenging issues in the health industry.
Contact us today to schedule a consultation or request a quote to see our globally competitive prices. Turn parts into partnerships now with D&M Plastics!