Q&A: Ascend and Foster Corporation’s new medical… Leave a comment
After Ascend Performance Materials and Foster Corporation’s Distribution business announced the new Hi-Dura MED grade nylon (PA) based materials for the medical device market, Med-Tech Innovation News’ sister title Medical Plastics News wanted to know more about the innovative materials.
1. How will these benefit the medical market?
Nylon 6,6 products have been under-utilised in the medical market. These products have an excellent physical property matrix and extreme toughness which will bode well for applications used in hospitals that require these properties. Ascends polyamide materials will provide applications such as medical equipment and housings, surgical tools, medical furniture, braces, medical mobility and the like with superior properties at a value-based price. In addition, Ascends bio-tested (ISO 10993) Hi-Dura MED products will provide “application peace of mind” for medical device companies looking to use these materials in their applications.
2. How are they different to other products on the market?
Ascend has invested a lot of time and effort into developing the Hi-Dura MED product line. It is the first nylon 6,6 product line developed specifically for the medical market and they intend to widen this product line based on medical customers’ needs. There are many materials vying for placement in the application segments that the Hi-Dura MED is focusing on but none have the property/value balance that Hi-Dura MED has.
3. What other products are you planning to introduce in 2023?
Foster Distribution now has 20 partners with a myriad of products that the medical market will be interested in. Our product portfolio includes polymers, additives, services, permanently implantable technologies, as well as membrane technology. These portfolio segments present a wide variety of possibilities for Foster Distribution and our customers. We will look to grow our portfolio in these segments and add as we see fit. We are currently focusing on the addition of more permanently implantable technologies as well as adding adhesives in our portfolio as many of our customers use adhesives in their medical applications.
