Metal tubing has become an indispensable part of modern medical devices and equipment. Ranging from simple delivery mechanisms to highly complex systems, metal tubing performs critical functions across various medical specialties. In this article, we explore the role of metal tubing in healthcare and the advancements it continues to enable.
Stainless Steel Tubing in Medical Devices
Stainless steel is one of the most commonly used metals for tubing in medical applications due to its strength, corrosion resistance and biocompatibility. It is used extensively in devices such as:
Catheters: Different types of catheters ranging from intravenous, urinary, drainage and feeding tubes extensively use stainless steel tubing. Its rigidity and kink resistance makes it ideal for guiding catheters into vessels and cavities in the body. Precision cutting and shaping of stainless steel tubing allows catheters to navigate complex pathways.
Dialysis Machines: The blood circuit of hemodialysis machines contains an intricate network of stainless steel tubing that transports blood to and from the dialyzer. Its non-reactive properties prevent blood clotting as it passes through the tubing at high velocities.
Surgical Instruments: Many minimally invasive surgical tools like endoscopes, laparoscopes and arthroscopes incorporate stainless steel tubing in their intricate designs. Using laser cutting techniques, tubing can be formed into elaborate configurations to enhance dexterity and precision needed for advanced procedures.
Metal Alloys in Specialized Applications
Besides stainless steel, specialized metal alloys are used for tubing in niche Medical Metal Tubing applications that demand unique material properties:
Nitinol Tubing: Nickel titanium or nitinol has shape memory properties allowing pre-formed tubing to regain its original shape on exposure to heat. This enables creation of self-expanding stents and catheters important for cardiovascular and neurovascular interventions.
MP35N Tubing: High performance non-magnetic cobalt-nickel-chromium-molybdenum alloy MP35N tubing offers maximal corrosion resistance. It is the material of choice for critical care equipment like MRI tubes, dialysis connectors and implantable pumps requiring non-magnetic properties.
Platinum-Iridium Tubing: Platinum-iridium alloy tubing provides the highest radiopacity for fluoroscopy guidance. Its biocompatibility makes it ideal for specialized applications like implantable spinal infusion catheters where long term durability is essential.
Micro-Diameter Tubing in Modern Medicine
Advancing Minimally Invasive Therapies
Constant miniaturization of tubing diameters allows development of minimally invasive techniques across branches of medicine like interventional radiology, cardiology, urology and neurosurgery. Tubing with 0.25mm or smaller inner diameters today enable unprecedented access to the human body.
Microfluidic Technologies
Tubing at microscale is enabling futuristic applications at the interface of engineering and medicine. Microfluidic tubing circuits incorporated into miniature medical devices and labs-on-chip are revolutionizing fields like genomic analysis, biopsies, targeted drug delivery and miniature surgical robots.
Catheter-Based Therapies
Delivery of therapies using catheter systems requires intricate micro-tubing networks. In coronary interventions, drug eluting stents are deployed through microcatheters to disperse medications at specific sites. Similarly, neurointerventional procedures depend on microcatheters to navigate the vasculature and deliver embolization coils or clot retrievers.
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1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public sources, Desk research
2. We have leveraged AI tools to mine information and compile it