Creating a Technically Advanced Medical Tube: An Independent Extruder’s Perspective

With catheters and medical devices becoming increasingly advanced and specialized, so has the process of creating that device. With complex designs, or parts, having exacting/enhanced physical functional characteristics, one cannot just pick up a phone to order a custom extrusion from a catalog. Sourcing the components of the new device is the first issue, and often times the most difficult component to procure is the extruded part. Creating a new extruded part makes partners of the designers of the device and the extrusion house. (See Figure 1)