As the medical industry continues to introduce more chemicals and tough applications for devices to endure, parts and seals need to be engineered stronger than ever to handle harsh environments. Rubber o-rings are utilized for many sealing applications because they are easily customizable and extremely durable.
Medical o-rings are typically used in a variety of important applications, including respiratory equipment, drug delivery devices, pumps, fluid transfer devices and many more. For these applications to run without failure, it is important that the proper o-ring size, shape and material is chosen for the task. Here are some of the many benefits that o-rings have brought to the medical industry:
O-Rings come in all sizes and hardness.
As technology in the medical industry continues to advance, many devices are becoming smaller and more intricate than ever before. With medical applications shrinking, all of the supporting parts need to match.
Apple Rubber engineers microminiature o-ring seals to fit even the smallest medical devices. From .990 mm down to .305 mm, Apple Rubber offers the largest selection of microminiature o-ring sizes for the medical industry.
Medical grade o-rings are built for patient safety.
Medical o-rings are engineered and tested to ensure that the rubber materials can be considered medical grade. Since medical seals often come in direct contact with the human body, it is required that medical o-rings are tested for biocompatibility, meaning that the o-ring materials don’t react to other materials or human tissue.
In order to effectively determine if a rubber material can be deemed medical grade, various testing must be done, including USP testing and ISO 10993. Materials for medical grade o-rings are chosen to promote patient safety. Apple Rubber chooses materials that have strong chemical resistance, excellent heat resistance and low permeability to gas, making them safe and durable for any medical application.
Durable and effective materials.
During medical applications, it is important that o-rings are functioning at full capacity to ensure there’s no leakage, cracking or failure. That’s why material selection is a crucial step in engineering a medical o-ring.
Apple Rubber offers three standard rubber materials that range in durometer and hardness to function in unique medical applications. These materials include fluoroelastomer, ethylene-propylene and silicone. No matter the size or shape you need, Apple Rubber has a large in-house stock of standard and non-standard medical o-rings to ensure your medical sealing needs are met.
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