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Enabling continuous improvement within the MedTech industry
Improve your medical device manufacturing processes
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3M abrasives, sustainable solvents, filters and membranes are used for improving quality and efficiency in a wide variety of critical manufacturing processes such as grinding and finishing, vapour degreasing and debubbling of final coatings in the orthopedic, vascular, hospital and homecare, ophthalmic and contract manufacturing sectors.
Our materials can deliver significant process improvements in the manufacture of a diverse array of medical devices including orthopedic implants, guidewires, catheters, stents, contact lenses, syringes, needles and more.
Grinding and finishing applications
3M Abrasives are suitable for a range of precision metal and ceramic components including cutting tools, implants and hypotubes.
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Heavy stock removal and rough dimensioning
3M Abrasives are ideal for both robotic and off-hand removal of mill scale, rough dimensioning, parting lines, gates and flashing.
The consistent high-performance and cutting efficiency of 3M abrasives makes it easier for you to meet customer cost and delivery targets – even on exotic, difficult-to-process alloys and ceramic coatings.
Designed to be ‘user friendly’, these advanced, long-lasting abrasives help ensure predictable, quality results with less reliance on operator skill.
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Surface refinement, finishing and polishing
3M offers a variety of solutions designed to reduce abrasive process steps and increase the number of parts produced per belt. The products featured here are used for removing scale, gate witness blending and removing surface imperfections, including light and heavy burs.
Their high efficiency and long life not only can help reduce the cost of labour and consumables, but can also speed up delivery times.
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Deburring
3M offers a variety of advanced abrasive technologies for deburring, finishing and polishing.
Designed to save time and steps, 3M abrasives are suited to today’s difficult-to-process alloys and other advanced materials, making it easier for you to deliver the surface finishes and tolerances your customers demand – on-time and on-budget.
Solvent cleaning, deposition and tube swelling applications
3M™ Novec™ products are used by the MedTech industry for solvent cleaning and vapour degreasing, lubricant deposition, thermal management and other diverse applications. They’re a cost-effective, high performing, and sustainable solution for medical device cleaning, coating and cooling applications.
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Solvent cleaning and vapour degreasing
3M™ Novec™ Engineered Fluids offer a number of advantages for manufacturers of medical devices. They’ve demonstrated excellent compatibility with sensitive materials such as acrylic and polycarbonate, as well as a wide range of other plastics, elastomers and metals. Their low surface tension, low viscosity and high liquid densities make Novec fluids ideal for use in vapour degreasing equipment and ultrasonic cleaning processes.
They’re fast-drying, and typically offer lower drag-out losses than conventional degreasing solvents. What’s more, Novec fluids easily penetrate tight spaces on complex parts, then drain off easily so they don’t become trapped in small spaces. Unlike aqueous solutions, Novec fluids don't support biological growth, and are less equipment and energy-intensive. In addition, parts cleaned in Novec fluids dry quickly and spot-free, with less chance for corrosion, making them ideal for ultrasonic cleaning.
Solvent cleaning and vapour degreasing with 3M Novec Fluids brochure (PDF 1.15 MB)
Solvent cleaning for the MedTech industry white paper (PDF 280 KB)
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Carrier solvents and lubricant deposition
3M Novec Engineered Fluids can disperse a wide variety of coatings, including silicone and PTFE.
These coatings can be successfully deposited on many different types of surfaces, including metals, plastics and elastomers. Specific deposition applications include hypodermic needles, surgical and cutting blades, blood bags, filters and PVC tubing.
Novec fluids have low surface tension for uniform coating and evaporate rapidly to potentially speed up your drying process.
Novec fluids can rapidly swell silicone tubing and other elastomers, which then recover to their original dimensions on exposure to air or in a drying oven. Novec fluids evaporate quickly, leaving little or no residual solvent behind.
Degassing of final critical coatings
The use of coating fluids and liquids is critical to the manufacturing of many medical devices. It's essential that these coating liquids are clean from particulate impurities and are degassed to remove residual bubbles, as this will ensure avoidance of product failures and defects.
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Debubbling/degassing
Air bubbles in the solution used in the coating process may cause product defects – the quality control method may not differentiate between bubbles in the solution and particulates.
This may cause yield loss or false failures.
MedTech resources
Find 3M resources to help you with product use, employee training, or various documents – we've collected everything in one place to ensure you've always got a helping hand.
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Find a whole variety of 3M MedTech news articles and dates for events by clicking below.
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Interested in more information about our MedTech products and expertise? Click below to access our range of documents including white papers, case studies, reports and general marketing communications.
Get in touch
Our MedTech team, including engineers, scientists and other experts, can answer your questions and offer you the support you need.
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