A daylong conference track at Plastec Minneapolis is devoted to current and emerging medical plastics technology, bringing together experts from industry and academe to share insights on everything from micromolding to biostability in implants.

Plastec Minneapolis is part of the Advanced Manufacturing Minneapolis event, along with co-locates MD&M, ATX, MinnPack, and D&M, at the Minneapolis Convention Center on Oct. 16 and 17, 2024. The event is organized by Informa Markets – Engineering, which also produces PlasticsToday.

Although measles deaths worldwide have fallen sharply since the 1960s, the World Health Organization has warned of a comeback around the world since 2017.

In micromolding, plastics can reach a point where shear thinning behavior is stretched to its limits. In this talk, Patrick Haney, R&D engineer at MTD Micro Molding, will explore the typical flow behavior of plastics and discuss the intriguing phenomena that arise under extreme shear conditions. He will touch on the ramifications of these changes on the final micromolded product, including the effects on final part microstructure as it applies to device application.

Worldwide, the number of cases quadrupled in the first three months of 2019 compared with the same time last year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Plastics have been instrumental in advancing medical technology for many decades, but, to my mind, a seminal moment happened during WW II, when plastic replaced glass in IV bags on the battlefield and proved its superiority, particularly when it comes to breakage. Since then, polymers have been on a roll in medical technology. From single-use devices that prevent patient infections to resorbable implants that eliminate having to undergo a second surgical procedure to remove the devices, plastics have revolutionized healthcare practices, improving patient outcomes and quality of life.

The recently qualified medical device development tool (MDDT) provides an accelerated test methodology to address the performance of new materials at long human implant times. Not only does careful use of accelerated testing reduce dependency on preclinical models, the MDDT increases certainty in predictions of a new material’s bio-durability. Kimberly Chaffin, vice president corporate technologist at Medtronic, will review predictive accelerated testing conducted for a series of commonly implanted medical device polymers, where the accelerated predictions are validated with up to 20 years of real-time human implant data.

But the deaths were later established to have been due to the nurses mixing the vaccine with an expired muscle relaxant, instead of water.

The epidemic has also seen a surge in alternative medicines touted as cures. Some reports suggest vitamin products or alkalised water are being sold as treatment.

In July 2018, two infants died in Samoa after receiving vaccinations against measles, mumps and rubella, raising local fears over the vaccine itself.

Samoa's fellow Pacific island nations Tonga and Fiji have also declared states of emergency to tackle their measles outbreaks.

Before the introduction of a vaccine in 1963, "major epidemics occurred approximately every 2-3 years and measles caused an estimated 2.6 million deaths each year", according to the WHO.

Wei Shen, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota, will present a class of thermoplastic elastomers that exhibit elastomeric properties in both wet and dry environments. The elastomers can be processed via 3D printing, extrusion, and hot-press processing at 60°C. The collective elastomeric, biodegradable, biocompatible, and thermoplastic properties make these materials highly valuable for biomedical applications.

"People are nervous, people are seeing the impact of this disease. Samoa is a very small country and everybody knows somebody who's been affected by this."

To reduce friction in products made from thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs), lubricious coatings can be applied to the devices or the TPEs can be compounded with specialty additives. Shruba Manna , senior development engineer at compounder Foster Corp., will explain the low-friction technolgies available on the market along with the effect of additives on a polymer’s properties and processability.

Vaccination rates - meaning the number of young children covered - recently dropped to a low of only 31%, external in Samoa, compared to 99% in nearby Nauru, Niue, and Cook Islands.

"The best way to keep children safe is to make sure they're immunised. Preventing vaccination and presenting false information kills children. That is clear - the evidence speaks for itself."

The rise is - in part - due to some parents shunning vaccines for philosophical or religious reasons, or concerns, debunked by medical science, that vaccines are linked to autism.

Durable medical devices typically are expected to function for up to 10 years or more under a combination of mechanical and/or thermal loads. Designing and analyzing medical devices that incorporate polymeric components, therefore, requires a thorough understanding of the material properties that influence creep and fatigue performance, as well as test and analysis methods for evaluating device performance. In this session, Paul Briant, practice director and principal engineer at Exponent, will review polymer properties that affect creep and fatigue, test methods for evaluating long-term creep and fatigue, and simulation methods of polymer performance under thermal and mechanical loads.

Material science experts will discuss current and emerging applications for medical plastics during a daylong conference track.

Editor in chief of PlasticsToday since 2015, Norbert Sparrow has more than 30 years of editorial experience in business-to-business media. He studied journalism at the Centre Universitaire d'Etudes du Journalisme in Strasbourg, France, where he earned a master's degree.

Here are capsule summaries of some of the key sessions and speakers at the medical plastics conference track, which takes place on Oct. 16 in room 102F.

Since the emergency declaration last month, a mass vaccination campaign has got under way, with more than 58,000 people successfully vaccinated, the government said, external.

"These deaths were due to human error. But the fact that you had two children die on the same day in the same institution, obviously caused a great deal of distrust towards the health system and towards vaccinations.

Industry experts from the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) Medical Plastics Division will discuss growth drivers and trends in medical polymers, including new resins, advanced molding methods, sustainability, personalized medicine, and regulatory shifts. Rob Klein, senior principal materials engineer at Atricure, and Chris Lyons, managing scientist at Exponent, are scheduled to speak. They will be immediately followed by Arthur Erdman, founding director of the Bakken Medical Devices Center, at 9:30 a.m. Named for Earl Bakken, the founder of Medtronic, the center follows his lead in exploring new avenues for medtech innovation through material development and 3D printing. Erdman will discuss several case studies illustrating the role polymers play in advancing medical technology.

Although effective and safe vaccination is available, even some developed countries have seen a resurgence in recent years.