Avient Corp. (Cleveland, Ohio) is expanding the manufacturing of its NEU Custom Capabilities and NEUSoft Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) solutions for catheter applications to its plant in Suzhou, China. This announcement also coincides with the start of Avient’s exhibit at Medtec China 2024 today, one of the country’s top medical technology expositions.
“By bringing NEU Custom Capabilities and NEUSoft TPU production to China, we’re reaffirming our commitment to serving the growing medical materials demands from our healthcare and medical device customers in China and the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region,” said Matt Mitchell, Director, Global Marketing of Specialty Engineered Materials at Avient, “This development not only helps us to improve our response time but also allows us to work more closely with our customers, providing customized solutions that meet their specific needs.”
Avient’s NEU business has provided catheter material solutions to the healthcare market for 35 years. The NEUSoft TPUs are a range of ultra-low durometer formulations for short-term in-vivo catheter applications, including cardiovascular, intravenous, and other specialty segments. They provide excellent elasticity, resistance to abrasion and tear, strong ultraviolet (UV) stability, and barrier properties against moisture and oxygen. They are also certified to meet biocompatibility requirements for ISO 10993 and USP Class VI standards. The materials can also be customized with radiopacifiers, colors, and other additives to meet specific application requirements.
In addition, the material can be overmolded on various substrates such as TPU and Nylon to allow for the creation of complex medical devices. Meanwhile, its compatibility with high-speed processing methods such as extrusion and injection molding provides additional flexibility that enables manufacturers to develop multi-material medical devices more efficiently.
Avient’s Suzhou facility operates under ISO 13485 quality management system certification, complying with the leading standards in medical device manufacturing. The plant features climate-controlled environments, improved operational flow to maintain product integrity and consistency, and a specialized production room.