Medical-grade resin facilitates surgical instrument for tonsil and adenoid removal

Global supplier of specialty polymers, Solvay, announced that it has facilitated in the development of a tissue removal device, with its medical-grade resin Ixef Para.

The tissue removal device, created by surgical instruments company Elasso, is used for adenoid and tonsil operations. Solvay’s resin has high flexural strength and high flow which makes it a suitable alternative to metal. Solvay has been able to optimise the device for surgical efficacy, without compromising the rigidity of key components. The Ixef Para resin is a 50% glass fiber-reinforced compound.

All Ixef Para grades are gamma-stabilised, allowing them to withstand sterilisation by high-energy gamma radiation without exhibiting significant changes in appearance or physical properties.

Oliver Lecerf, chief operaion officer for Elasso Surgical Instruments said: “We pursued a very ambitious design for our single-use Elasso instrument, which relies on very long, thin forcep-like arms fabricated from Solvay’s high-performance polymer rather than metal to ensure better leverage, reach and control. We tested several very high-end polymers, but only Ixef GS-1022 PARA resin delivered the necessary combination of high flow in the mold and outstanding strength and stiffness in the finished part to give the forceps the leverage that our design targeted.”