Home > Company > News > News Listings

Interface in the News

07/08/2010 - Interface Catheter Solutions Custom Welding Sleeves for Catheter Manufacturing

05/06/2010 - Interface Catheter Solutions New Automated Balloon Visual Inspection System — Model BVIS-2000

03/01/2010 - Interface Catheter Solutions Announces New Hydraulic Pressure Testers for Balloon Catheters and Components

03/01/2010 - Interface Catheter Solutions Announces New CPS-1000 Computerized Parison Stretcher for Neck Down Tubing for Medical Balloon Forming

10/28/2009 - Interface Catheter Solutions HSO-250 Heat Setting Oven for PTA and PTCA Catheters is Compact, Easy to Operate and Cost Effective

07/10/2009 - Interface Catheter Solutions ION-1000 Balloon Tubing Deionizer Improves Balloon Production Yields

06/29/2009 - Interface Catheter Solutions Offers Standard and Custom Balloons for Balloon Catheter Development and Production

03/20/2009 - Interface Catheter Solutions Proprietary Extrusion Process Produces Quality Balloon Tubing for Consistent and Controllable Yields

02/10/2009 - Interface Catheter Solutions New Tubing Welding Machine TBW-500 is Cost-Effective and Easy-to-Use for Low-Profile Welds

02/10/2009 - Interface Next Generation Balloon Forming Machine BFM-3310 to Simplify Manufacturing Operations and Expand Capabilities

01/10/2009 - Interface Catheter Solutions New MBS-200 Marker Band Swager Offers Superior Performance and Improved Reliability for Catheter Production

10/30/2008 - New Quick Release Brackets by Interface Catheter Solutions Enhances Balloon Forming Production

08/13/2008 - New Vision System from Interface Improves Welding Yields

12/28/2007 - Interface Catheter Solutions Receives ISO 13485:2003 Certification

Published Articles

Extrusion Evolution
Extrusion customers want tighter tolerances, better performance and lower cost.
by Mark Crawford / Medical Product Outsourcing / March 2010

Results need to be reproducible and predictable. For balloon tubing extrusion, that means proving dimensional capability in the tenths of thousandths and being able to maintain tensile characteristics within 5 percent. "As an example, we have used other commercially available tubing and have seen significant variation in lot-to-lot tensile properties, up to as much as 40 percent," said Mazzarese. "By specifically targeting this property and controlling the extrusion process we can achieve ± 5 percent variation."

Meeting this goal requires specialized equipment and tooling, but a new extruder is only half of the battle-the rest is incorporating effective pre- and post-processes to ensure extrusion performance and stability. The company has on-site materials lab capabilities for testing and evaluating tubing characteristics, as well as inline monitoring of the extrusion-forming process.

"These pre- and post-processes involve both common sense approaches as well as specialized techniques derived from fundamental understanding of the tubing required," Mazzarese continued. "For example, excessive moisture and or insufficient elongation results in medical balloons with fish eyes, which can lead to lower burst pressures or reduced fatigue. Some pre-extrusion processes we use include cleaning the external surface of the resin and incorporating in-line filters. We've developed the pre- and post-methods we need to extrude tubing with the mechanical and dimensional properties our customers want."

Balloon Catheters Present Unique Design Challenges
by Ronelle Decker / Marketing Manager Interface Catheter Solutions/ Medical Design/ May 2009

Careful consideration of balloon materials and characteristics start with the need for specialty balloon tubing with consistent lot-to-lot characteristics, a critical factor for driving yield improvement in medical balloon manufacturing. It is a key process for achieving precise tubing dimensions. High-quality specialized balloon tubing can improve balloon yields and functional requirements.

Custom molds and balloon-forming equipment are necessary for accomplishing a final balloon design and product. The balloon-development process is simplified when working with a contract manufacturing organization that has in-house capabilities to offer a multitude of custom molds and end plugs. Balloon development must also take into consideration aging, shrinking, and annealing processes. An experienced balloon development company can provide rapid prototyping and study requirements expertise potentially shortening product deliverables and time-to-market.