Medical injection molding is where molten plastic is used and passes through the molding machines on the largest scales to produce more medical devices quickly. Significantly, it is a reliable way of producing Healthcare applications for medical departments, hospitals, surgical sectors, Laboratories, disease diagnostic departments, computer tomography, and other Theater operating tools.
The procedure creates durable, reusable, and solid polymer or any plastic molds of medical devices in more than 2 minutes. Whether you have simple tubes, complex surgical tools, or other implantable medical devices, it ensures that every piece of equipment has no flaws, proper fabrication, and optimal performance. So, in this article, we will discuss “What Is the Production Process Of Medical Injection Melding” and its significance. Have a look:
Production Process of Medical Injection Molding
Usually, people think medical injection molding is the same as normal plastic molding manufacturing. But the process is all different. It strictly follows international standards and quality criteria because medical devices are sensitive to humans and other organisms. Therefore, from choosing the material to the final product, we will discuss the production process of medical injection molding with each step. Dive into them:
1- Material Selection
The power step is a selection of high-quality and suitable plastic material for the molds. Before choosing the material you need to check the following factors, including biodegradability, Mechanical properties, sterilization, and chemical resistance. Plastics are available from softer to the hardest values, the more the plastic is hard, the more expensive it will be. Because it produces sturdy and firm modules with the least chemical reactions and material wastage. The most common materials that medical Industries mostly prefer are polyethylene, polypropylene, polycarbonate, and resin.
2- Mold Design & Fabrication
After picking up the suitable and durable material, the next step comes with molding design. In this step, by using CAT software, the designer makes mold layouts and templates and installs them on the computer for die-cut implementation. The mold usually has hard steel and Aluminium material to resist high temperatures and pressure. Therefore, the molds need to have tight tolerance and fewer geometric shapes to keep the precision, accuracy, and symmetry in the final products.
3- Plastic Injecting Process:
The plastic injection process is a 2-minute way of transferring the material into a medical device shape. There are almost four stages in injecting the plastic including clamping, injection, cooling, and ejection.
●Clamping: Before injecting the material into the clamps, the two halves of the molds need to be tightly closed. In this, one of the two halves has an attachment with a molding machine and the other can slide over easily. When the procedure starts, the material is injected in between two halves and immediately the machines close the molds to reduce the chance of any leakage.
●Injection: The main part comes, there are hoopers on the plastic pallets which help them to move in the injection unit. Moreover, there are temperature controllers that surround the barrel to provide pressure and melt the palette. A volume “shot” is given from the top, when the mold has filled by 95 to 99% with a pressure of 35 to 140 MPa. The rate of injection varies and works according to the hydraulic system installed in the machine.
●Cooling: The cooling process comes; it cools down the interior by using cool water. When the plastic comes to the desired shape, the cold water showers on it slightly and retains it into a device shape.
●Ejection: The ejection is the last stage; the injection system pushes out the shrunk plastic and shoots the mold again to continue the next process.
4- Post Manufacturing Process
When the manufacturing process is complete, there can be additional processing steps like the assembly of tools trimming the extra parts, and sterilization. In trimming, the engineers and workers check on every part of the device and cut the leftover sides or any rough particles to give us more surface to them. Additionally, the Assembly is the accommodation and putting the parts of the devices together to give them a correct shape. Furthermore, in sterilization, the engineers use Gamma Rays or ethylene oxide in liquid to make them bacteria-proof and bio-friendly.
5- Inspection & ISO Standards
After taking out the products from the molds, the next step is the quality inspection and checking the devices whether they pass the ISO standards or not. For this, multiple techniques check the tools from all dimensions. Pass them through a pressure machine to check how much pressure they can bear, scrutinize surface finishing (glossy and smooth texture), and thoroughly look at the products for scratching or any residue.
International committees all together made ISO standards, specifically ISO 13485 for medical devices, so to keep the authenticity and reliability of medical tools. The standards and regulations have specified terminologies on which the molds have to be. If the mold lacks in any aspect including material, injection process, surface finishes, or any other specifications, the inspectors reject them with authority.
Conclusion
Summarizing the discussion on “what is the production process of medical injection molding”, I must say Medical injection molding is the most significant process for the medical Industries. The biggest advantage is the production of 100 to 1000, and from millions to unlimited medical equipment at the same time under control conditions. Moreover, it is a quick process as you can say one or two-minute flipper that transforms any raw plastic into a useful and user-friendly medical device. Specifically, the sterilization process, checking of ISO standards, and authority documentation get you reliable and progressive techniques to experiment on human beings. Last but not least, the cost-friendly factor, producing equipment in larger quantities saves money and makes the procedure cost-effective. Along with medical sectors, the low prices help normal people buy emergency medical devices at standard cost.
FAQ
Q1. What materials are suitable for Medical injection molding?
They may include polyethylene, polypropylene, polycarbonate, and resin. So, these materials are selected for their mechanical properties, sterilization capabilities, chemical resistance, and biodegradability.
Q2. How much time does medical injection molding take to make a product?
It is a fast process and typically takes about 2 minutes to produce a single product. So, this time includes the stages of clamping, injection, cooling, and ejection. Besides this, the exact time can vary depending on the complexity of the product, requirements, and the material used.
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