To provide increased strength for medical tubing, Confluent Medical Technologies provides Ultra Polyimide, which the company states is the strongest version of polyimide in the industry. It offers strength that is nearly double traditional polyimide.

“This advancement enables device designers to reduce material usage while maintaining essential column and tensile strength,” stated Jill Ellison, vice president of operations for Confluent’s High Precision Polymer Tubing Center of Excellence. “This frees up valuable cross-sectional area for additional design elements for the continued advancement in delivery device technology.”

The more traditional version of polyimide is already used for its high strength and durability. However, as the demands on these delivery pathways increase, there is growing interest in thinner walls that are able to maintain those necessary physical characteristics. Confluent states this material provides the increased strength while preserving the inner lumen space.

Additionally, Ultra Polyimide was developed so as to confirm to regulations against the use of restricted solvents, including REACH and the EU MDR. As such, it does not leverage NMP (n-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone) to achieve this enhanced strength, a chemical recently flagged by the U.S. EPA.

Lead times for Ultra Polyimide is three to four weeks.