At the Heart of the Matter

ITG: What are the trends in the Healthcare & Medical segment for the coming years?

 DR: Several trends are occurring, all driven by the need for improved patient care at a lower cost. One of these is miniaturization, which broadens solutions for individual patients. More and more technology is being driven into patient-wearable devices or implants. Procedures that traditionally required admission to a hospital and confinement to a bed can now be delivered in a continuous fashion through these devices. Not only do they improve care and the patient’s overall quality of life, but they also reduce cost.

Another trend is for the use of drug-eluting implantable devices as an alternative to oral or injection delivery. The ability to deliver a high dose of super strong cancer drugs right to the tumor spares the patient from general dosages that can kill surrounding tissue or cause other side effects. Drug device products are in development to treat some of the most lethal cancers, such as brain cancer.

ITG: How can Trelleborg’s capabilities support our customers in responding to these trends?

DR: Trelleborg Sealing Solutions has made significant investment in engineering, both in research and development as well as in processes and manufacturing.

In support of our Healthcare & Medical customers, we offer very specialized design assistance that greatly aids device manufacturers in the manufacturing of products incorporating new drug-eluting technologies. This includes the provision of guidance on material selection, which can significantly optimize product performance.

Our ability to then develop manufacturing processes for the silicone components for these devices can reduce time to market and help navigate the regulatory requirements, which are often weighty.

In addition, our quality can help lower the chance for regulatory holds on production that can potentially cripple the launch of new technologies. Trelleborg’s reputation for high precision, tight tolerance manufacturing and innovation has brought many of the newest and most cutting-edge projects to us from many of the world’s top Healthcare & Medical device manufactures.

Trelleborg Sealing Solutions has made significant investments in the development of its capabilities in seals and molded components for healthcare and medical applications. One of those was the acquisition of Specialty Silicone Fabricators in 2016. Drew Rogers is now part of the Trelleborg family, and gives his thoughts on the demanding Healthcare & Medical market and how Trelleborg Sealing Solutions is developing its offering to serve it’s customers.

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ITG: Trelleborg Sealing Solutions has expanded its capabilities in silicone for healthcare and medical applications. In what way?

DR: Through the acquisition of Specialty Silicone Fabricators based in Tustin, California, in the U.S., Trelleborg Sealing Solutions added several important offerings and capabilities to its portfolio. The most significant of these is medical implantable silicone parts.

These silicone parts contribute to a wide variety of implantable products, from pacemaker leads to artificial heart components and breast implants. And as the Healthcare & Medical market is moving so dramatically to implantable devices, Trelleborg made this investment in the expertise and manufacturing to support the trend.

A second expansion is into drug device combination products. These are silicone parts that elute or deliver drugs when implanted into a patient. The market is being driven by the advantages of drug-eluting products. Their applications vary from micro-molded punctum plugs implanted in the eye to vaginal rings for women’s health.

ITG: How do new capabilities complement and enhance those of Trelleborg Sealing Solutions?

DR: Trelleborg Sealing Solutions has already established its quality and engineering expertise in the Healthcare & Medical market. Until now though, its track record has primarily been in devices and equipment in clinical settings but not in or on the patient. Its extended capabilities greatly expand Trelleborg’s ability to take advantage of a much greater number of opportunities.

One example of the synergy between the new capabilities held by the Trelleborg Sealing Solutions facility in Tustin in the US and the existing Trelleborg capabilities, is with a particular customer that designed a new device for treatment of sleep apnea.

This project required significant early design assistance, development and prototyping support specific to He althcare & Medical applications, which the Tustin facility excels at. It also required the scaling of silicone-based components up to mass production through automation. Tustin lacks experience in this, but other Trelleborg Sealing Solutions facilities have lots of expertise, in particular those in Stein am Rhein, Switzerland, and in Northborough in the US.

Trelleborg Sealing Solution won the project based on the combined capabilities of several facilities to fulfill all the customer requirements.

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