Force Testing Ensures High Quality Tubing
A recent report in Medical Link described one of the critical components to ensure the functionality and consistent performance of tubing used in the healthcare field: force testing. Determining the appropriate product line for a facility should include an assessment of this key requirement.
Medical tubing comprised of plastic is one of the mainstays of treatment delivery in healthcare. It is a key tool used during the most basic procedure, such as delivery of fluids to patients and is becoming an increasingly visible tool in more complex procedures, such as cardiac catheterization and minimally invasive surgeries. This makes tubing ever more utilized and, thus visible. As such, an assessment of guidelines in purchasing of such may be appropriate.
Force testing is a key component of the device design and manufacture process. This entails quantitative assessment of the mechanical profile of tubing, in addition to providing means to optimize device performance and functioning. Force testing is also a key component of quality assurance, ensuring consistency and capturing potential device faults across the manufacturing spectrum.
Force testing approaches can be either highly complex and require expensive equipment or, alternatively, simplified, using basic equipment. Along with force testing, tensile testing of tubes allows assessment of device performance during placement. Joint strength testing, too, is critical in determining the strength of tubing used in the medical setting. Packaging is a final consideration for materials managers; this can be a marker of the manufacturer’s attention to detail.
Force testing, for example, was employed in the development of catheters used during percutaneous coronary interventions. Consideration of force testing characteristics in this context allowed developers to simultaneously minimize the forces exerted by tubing on regions through which catheters were passed, thus mitigating the risk of vessel perforation.
November 26, 2007 Related topics: Standardization, Evaluation & assessment, Benchmarking