Challenge
Develop a trocar seal material meeting four critical properties
- A customer was developing a new trocar seal
- Trocars are surgical instruments placed in the body during laparoscopy
- Trocar seals prevent air from escaping the abdominal, provide surgeons access for surgical instruments, and maintain air pressure to give them a clear viewing area - The selected sealing material wasn’t meeting requirements
- Surgical instruments caught on the material during insertion tearing the seal. This reduced the physician’s control while also disrupting their view of the surgical area increasing risk to patients.
- The material needed to maintain a minimum compression set to ensure consistent performance
- The material also needed a low coefficient of friction (CoF) to support accurate manipulation of instruments and prevent snags and tearing
Solution
A custom formulation and process for easier production
![Duck-Bills-and-gasket-cropped](/medical/-/media/tss-media-repository/healthcare-and-medical/images/case-stories/point-of-care-diagnostic/duck-bills-and-gasket-cropped.jpg?h=450&iar=0&w=800&rev=7ed36bc9df78458aa1f391cddf492cdc&hash=4167A56502D108037DF4123E3FE215F3)
- Trelleborg worked on a formulation to meet the property requirements
- The material selected was a polyisoprene (synthetic natural rubber) which has very high elongation and tear strength, good compression-set resistance, and is difficult to cut
- Using the existing polyisoprene as a base, the team customized the formula to match all the customer’s performance requirements, except for the low CoF
- In a secondary process, Trelleborg’s proprietary Quniton® surface modification technology lowered the CoF on the seal while improving the manufacturing process
- This secondary process also helped maximize other properties required from the material while keeping costs down
- The team also improved the seal’s geometry
- The new design ensured a consistently reliable product could be manufactured at scale
Results
A material that met the customer’s needs in every setting
- Trelleborg delivered a cost-effective material compound that accelerated the product’s speed-to-market
- Trelleborg helped produce a seal that enhanced trocar performance, making it a superior solution for physicians in surgery and a leader in the marketplace