High-Performance Resins for Tough Requirements for New Medical Equipment

At the recent MD&M West 2011, SABIC Innovative Plastics announced that GE Healthcare, a global leader in medical technology, has selected Valox resin for the housing and Xylex resin for the storage bins of its new Optima XR220amx1 mobile X-ray machine to meet the increasing demands being placed on medical equipment. These high-performance resins helped GE Healthcare address toughening requirements for enhanced patient safety and outcomes, more-efficient care delivery, and cost-effectiveness with this innovative device, which brings diagnostic radiology to the patient's bedside. SABIC Innovative Plastics offers a broad and growing portfolio of healthcare materials that provide solutions to changing regulatory, design, and performance requirements facing its customers in the medical equipment sector.

"Working with SABIC Innovative Plastics on this high-visibility project has been a great success for our customers-and ultimately their patients. Using Valox and Xylex resins, we created a portable, easy-to-clean, and attractive 'radiographic room on wheels'. The wide portfolio of resins and extensive application development services provided by SABIC Innovative Plastics helped us optimise the design and improve the performance of this next-generation diagnostic device," said Guillermo Sander, global marketing manager, Mobile DXR, GE Healthcare.

"SABIC Innovative Plastics is increasingly focused on helping healthcare OEMs worldwide diversify their device offerings with more advanced material technologies. We are proud of our more than 15 years of close collaboration with GE Healthcare, which has targeted today's most critical healthcare issues. For this new X-ray device, our materials provide lightweight, chemical resistance, and durability," said Tom O'Brien, global products marketing director, Healthcare, SABIC Innovative Plastics.

Materials Target Top Healthcare Trends

GE Healthcare chose Valox V3900WX resin, a high-impact polyester/polycarbonate blend, to design for healthcare industry requirements for increased safety of patients and improved cost control. Valox resin provides the exceptional chemical resistance of polyester to withstand stronger disinfectants being adopted to combat hospital-borne infections. For portable equipment such as the GE Healthcare device, it offers the high impact resistance and dimensional stability of polycarbonate to withstand bumps and bangs during transport within the hospital. This flame-retardant, UV-stabilised resin offers outstanding aesthetics and provides molded-in color as a cost-effective alternative to traditional painted metal. It also delivers enhanced processability needed for molding large, high-quality, precision parts.
Valox resin offers significantly greater design freedom than metal to create new ergonomic designs. Broad molded-in color capability allowed GE Healthcare to achieve a customised bright white color without the cost and environmental impact of secondary painting. Inherent color also avoids the problem of paint scratches and makes the parts easier to clean.

Valox V3900WX resin is an Underwriters Laboratories global grade with a UL 746C F1 all-color rating. The global-grade designation provides enhanced flexibility for global customers by allowing programs to move from one region of the world to another without the cost and complexity of material re-qualification. Its flame-retardant package provides a UL 94 V0 rating down to 1.5 mm wall thickness and a 5VA rating down to 3.0 mm wall thickness.

The Xylex X7519HP resin is a transparent blend of polycarbonate and amorphous polyester. Compared to polycarbonate alone, the addition of polyester provides enhanced chemical resistance, supporting efforts to reduce hospital-acquired infections. Polyester also enhances the resin's stress crack resistance and permits lower processing temperatures. High impact resistance and glasslike transparency make XyleMens Running Shoes