Catheter Tip Forming

Catheter Tip Forming

Catheter tip forming is a critical step in producing medical device tubing that meets strict requirements for use by healthcare professionals and patients.tip forming The tip’s shape, size, and material characteristics directly impact the performance of the catheter in medical applications. Rigorous quality control measures guarantee that each finished catheter is consistently formed to the required specifications. This requires flawless production of the tip in order to avoid defects such as flashes, short shots, voids and incomplete tips.

The process of forming catheter tips is complex and involves numerous variables.tip forming Many of these factors can be controlled with advanced equipment and meticulous calibration, however, a few key aspects remain constant to ensure the process yields flawless tips. These include precise dimensional tolerances of the tip-forming die, optimal induction coil properties and positioning above the die, maintaining consistent catheter material melting and forming temperatures, and employing a gripping method that is capable of holding and transferring the tube into the mold for a constant insertion stroke without influencing the overall forming stroke due to material slippage or elasticity.

Forming lubrication is also an important factor to consider, as this will allow the forming tool to slide over the tubing surface smoothly when being formed.tip forming Liberal application of forming lubrication will also allow the forces applied during forming to be distributed over a larger area and can help prevent distortion in the formed wall, tearing at the roots of the form, or shear on the forming edge.

Another common problem that can be mitigated with proper lubrication is the formation of a short shot in the tip.tip forming This is often caused by excessive pressure being applied during the forming process, or the forming temperature being too high. When a short shot is formed, it leaves behind a small amount of unmelted plastic near the forming tip. This can be minimized by reducing the pressure during forming, or by using a higher forming temperature.

The use of a good forming tool configuration manager will also help to prevent defects like flash and short shots.tip forming This software is able to analyze the geometry of the forming tool and provide recommendations for avoiding these issues. When creating a forming tool, it is important to create curved faces (typically fillets) that are smaller in radius than the maximum thickness of the plastic you will be forming the tip on.

To eliminate these errors, the ONEX RF system uses advanced sensor feedback to monitor all critical parameters in real-time during the tipping process. This closed-loop monitoring includes RF power, temperature, induction coil position and forming stroke, as well as a number of sensor inputs for positioning accuracy. This allows the ONEX to intervene with corrective actions when deviations occur, ensuring that all of your final products are of a uniform quality.