The Tecvac unit will satisfy the increased capacity demands on Portal Medical for plasma processing services.  This includes fully traceable batch processing of medical devices, pharmaceutical packaging components and drug delivery systems.  The low temperature technology, using application temperatures below 50oC, can treat fabrics as well as solid polymers and metals.

  Portal Medical is currently developing a number of new technologies for surface modification of medical and aerospace materials.  One major project is reducing drug adherence to the surfaces of delivery devices.  This is already demonstrating major savings for high volume drug delivery applications.  Portal Medical's technologies enhance the surface adhesion and biocompatibility of polymer surfaces, and contribute to surface cleanliness, as well as providing specialist surface polymerisation to deposit precise chemistries tailored for individual applications.  Plasma technology can be applied to both polymers and metals, and has successfully etched titanium surfaces to meet clinical requirements.

  The plasma technology will modify polymer surfaces ready for assembly, and can control cross links in the polymerisation process to create specified permeability, wetting and adhesion characteristics.

  The Tecvac unit, developed in conjunction with Paul Stevenson of Portal Medical, uses constant or pulsed radio frequency gas excitation, which can produce energetic plasma at processing temperatures well below 50oC.   Polymer surfaces can be cleaned and sterilised, and if required etched, to meet all surgical standards without the need for aggressive cleaning treatments.  The gas plasma process will remove oils, waxes, distillates, and many other production contaminants, to provide the right surface conditions to promote grafts, membranes and cell development. 

  Fluorocarbons, silicones and acrylics can all be processed by the Portal technology.   One major advantage of this low temperature plasma technology is that delicate fabric surfaces for sensors and wound care materials can be transformed without oxidation, heating or surface damage.  This process is effective with beads, mesh, porous surfaces and woven fabrics, and extends to some lumens, tubes, chambers, and other internal and external envelopes.

  Tecvac also builds PVD coating machines that use electron beam metal evaporation techniques to build high integrity films, especially using gold, silver, DLC coatings, and complex biomedical ceramics, such as titanium nitride.  A £350,000 IP75 unit was recently commissioned at the University of Sheffield to support research to develop new complex PVD coatings for the medical sectors.  Tecvac also participates in a number of pan-European R&D projects.

 The gas plasma technology developed by Tecvac and Portal Medical has numerous applications in cardiology, orthopaedics and drug delivery, and can be applied to ceramics and metals, in addition to polymers and polymer fabrics.  This allows a wide variety of medical devices and biomedical materials to be processed, to ensure that biocompatibility is maximised.

  Tecvac will be exhibiting at MEDTEC 2009 on the Medilink West Midlands stand 2000 at the NEC, Birmingham, 25/26th March.

  Contact Ian Haggan or Rhod Turner at Tecvac for more technical information, Tel: +44 (0) 1954 233700.  Paul Stevenson can provide more details on Portal Medical, Tel: +44 (0) 1745 535224.

 Go to CMPR for more text, high resolution images or background information at or contact CMPR by email
                                

 For more information on Tecvac's coatings and services contact Ian Haggan  on +44 (0)1954 233700 or visit www.tecvac.com

 
More information from Ian Haggan
Tecvac Ltd
Buckingway Business Park
Swavesey Cambridge CB24 4UG
Tel  +44 (0) 1954 233700
Fax  +44 (0) 1954 233700