Designing Medical
Polymer Solutions for Environmental Sustainability
(Courtesy : Celanese The chemistry
inside innovation)
HOW COLLABORATION
DELIVERS INNOVATION AND VALUE
Sometimes a novel product
development challenge presents an opportunity to
innovate in product, process, or both. Celanese works
with medical device manufacturers to understand their
challenges, identify opportunities, and design
solutions that meet their unique challenges.
Our experts work with
manufacturers and engineers to help understand,
articulate and develop material needs in diverse
application bases. The Celanese integrated engagement
model makes it easy to innovate together with our
broad portfolio, process support, part design, global
footprint and continued investment into healthcare
technology. Our Celanese MT® Portfolio service package
provides service and quality commitments, including:
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Long-term supply assurance without change of
formulation
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Extensive research and development capabilities
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Processing guidance and support
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Design and regulatory support
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Global regulatory approvals
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Material compliance to FDA and EU requirements
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Animal- and latex-free formulations
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Certified biocompatibility - (USP Class VI / ISO
10993, etc.)
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FDA Drug Master File
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FDA Device Master File
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Expanded Certificate of Inspection
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Application of GMP-principles
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Doing business in a global economy
presents immense opportunity and any number of challenges,
from supply chain issues to variation in regulatory
requirements. In the complex business planning process,
medical device companies establish objectives across a
number of parameters, including profitability, customer
satisfaction, product innovation, corporate
responsibility, and more. One challenge becomes achieving
one or more of these targets without negatively impacting
another measure of success. Case in point—how can medical
device companies successfully innovate while dealing with
cost-down pressures and achieve significant sustainability
progress in their products and operations?
To support a more environmentally
sustainable future, it is imperative to reduce the volume
of greenhouse gases being released into the environment.
As such, governments and industries worldwide are
introducing targets and setting goals to become carbon
neutral over the next few decades, reducing their net
greenhouse gas emissions to zero. A reduction in a
company’s carbon footprint is one common measure within a
corporate sustainability program.
Naturally, the medical industry is no
exception. However, when it comes to materials, the
medical industry faces a specific challenge that many
others do not; it is not a trivial matter to recycle
medical-grade material. Drug-containing devices, such as
prefilled syringes, must be made of virgin material to
comply with regulatory standards. Additionally, there is a
need to provide safe and convenient prefilled devices to
enable at-home self-administration of medicines by
patients, which necessitates a ready supply of
difficult-to-recycle medical-grade materials.
Therefore, there is a pressing need for
innovation to find a way to meet the demand for more
environmentally sustainable production of these materials.
For the medical industry, Celanese has developed and
launched Hostaform® MT® POM ECO-B, a sustainable,
pharmaceutical-compliant grade of Hostaform® MT® POM made
by transforming potential pollution into polyacetal
material. Hostaform MT POM ECO-B is functionally identical
to conventional POM, so no product requalification
required and it is a direct drop-in solution without no
impact on the properties of the end product.
AN OVERVIEW OF POM AND CELANESE’S
HOSTAFORM® MT® POM ECO-B
Polyoxymethylene (POM), sometimes called
acetal or polyacetal, is a highly crystalline,
high-performance engineering polymer used across a variety
of industries, including medical, automotive and consumer
products. POM is a highly versatile material that can be
processed in a multitude of ways and has a low coefficient
of friction, excellent wear resistance, high modulus and
resistance to a wide range of solvents.
These properties make POM an attractive
polymer for use in medical devices. Celanese has a long
history of expertise working with POM, and today is a
leading provider of POM worldwide. Hostaform MT POM is
traditionally used in medical devices for moving parts,
low-friction assemblies, release mechanisms and spring
assemblies, in large part due to its durability and
tuneable tribological properties.
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