Cut-To-Length and Slit unveiled as Junkosha’s latest innovation in FEP Peelable Heat Shrink Technology

Materials specialist and pioneer of FEP Peelable Heat Shrink Tubing (PHST), Junkosha, has launched its newest innovation, cut-to-length and slit PHST, to enable a wide range of catheter-based procedures where flexibility is the key requirement.

As part of its wider campaign to be at the forefront of precision engineered, miniaturised micro catheters and guide wires, Junkosha is leading the charge towards heat shrink solutions that provide the flexibility needed to complete increasingly complicated treatments such as neurovascular interventions.

Catheter delivery systems for neurovascular treatments rely on increasingly complex shapes, constructs and polymers to deliver their intended treatment. This intricacy in catheter bonding and welding applications can only be consistently achieved through advanced technology innovations such as cut-to-length and slit PHST, which enables catheter manufacturers to use different lengths to not only reflow a catheter’s baseline materials, but also to attach complex shapes and constructions. Key application areas include balloon mounting, catheter lamination, forming, tacking, masking, bonding parallel tubes and polymer jacket compression. 

Joe Rowan, President and CEO of USA and Europe for Junkosha, siad: “We have a deep heritage in material science and fluoropolymers, which means our solutions are at the leading edge of what is possible. With our cut-to-length and slit PHST solution, we are providing catheter manufacturers with the versatility they require to complete increasingly intricate bonding and welding applications. In the future, I expect this need for more complex procedures to continue to increase, as the healthcare system maintains its drive towards minimally invasive procedures.”

Alan Iranian, Program Manager for Biomerics, added: “Junkosha’s PHST solutions are ideal for very small devices such as micro-catheters due to their simplicity in removal. Conventional skiving techniques do not work on smaller reflowed catheters, frequently leading to bending or kinking of the catheter shaft, therefore rendering them useless. Products like Junkosha’s cut-to-length and slit PHST also enable complicated shapes and constructs to be added to the catheter in a simple way, resulting in the ability to complete complex build procedures more efficiently. Looking ahead, I expect the applications for products like PHST to widen and increase, as the need for less invasive complex procedures grows in tandem.”