#11 – Medical Technology & Reprocessing
Engineered for repeated sterilisation
Reusable medical equipment lives in a demanding cycle: use, clean, disinfect, steam sterilise at 134 °C, use again. Many engineering plastics lose toughness and transparency after repeated cycles. PPSU is the established material choice for components that have to survive this cycle for years.
The challenge
Manufacturers of medical devices and reusable instruments describe a recurring profile. Components have to withstand repeated steam sterilisation and cleaning chemistry without losing toughness or dimensional accuracy, and they have to survive being dropped on hard floors. Quantities per variant are small, product families are wide, and design revisions are frequent. Injection moulding tools rarely pay off at these volumes, and every tool change slows the product programme down.
The solution
PPSU is an established benchmark material for this profile. Selected PPSU grades are documented by the raw material manufacturers to withstand more than 1,000 steam sterilisation cycles under defined test conditions. PPSU offers exceptionally high impact strength within the sulphone polymer family, retains its toughness at low temperatures and shows very good hydrolysis and hot water resistance. It is resistant to many commonly used cleaning and disinfection media, subject to application-specific compatibility testing. The continuous operating temperature is about 180 °C. For medical applications we supply Comco-PPSU MG (medical grade) from stock; the assessment of a material’s suitability for a specific medical application remains with the device manufacturer.
We machine PPSU from semi-finished sheet and rod in our own CNC production. Typical components:
- Handles and grips for reusable surgical instruments
- Sterilisation trays, racks and instrument holders
- Manifolds and fluid-carrying blocks for medical devices
- Adapters, couplings and connection components
- Trial and sizing components
- Housing and cover parts for reprocessable equipment
Machining PPSU from stock shapes means every variant and and every revision is economical, from single parts to series, without tooling costs and with short lead times.
Products
- Comco-PPSU semi-finished products and finished parts
- Related: PEI, PSU & PPSU ready from stock
“A reusable instrument is only as durable as its components. Material choice and documented machining quality decide how long it stays in service.””
Material properties at a glance
- High resistance to repeated steam sterilisation at 134 °C (grade-dependent, documented by raw material
manufacturers) - Exceptionally high impact strength within the sulphone polymer family
- Very good hydrolysis and hot water resistance
- Resistant to many common cleaning and disinfection media, subject to compatibility testing
- Continuous operating temperature up to about 180 °C
- Comco-PPSU MG (medical grade) available from stock, machined from sheet and rod
Why COMCO EPP
As a manufacturer we hold PPSU semi-finished products in stock and machine finished components in our own CNC production. We provide documented material identification, material certificates on request and CNC manufacturing according to the agreed drawing and inspection requirements. Small series, fast revisions, documented quality: this is how instrument families stay economical across their life cycle.
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