Medical RF Welding
For many years, the medical industry has used radio frequency (RF) seals to make such products as bags for intravenous infusions and for the collection of bodily fluids. As the industry has grown rapidly with the aging of the population, the demand for more disposable bags and other PPE has grown by leaps and bounds. Most PPE used every day in hospitals across the world is made with medical rf welding technology.
What is Medical RF Welding?
Medical RF welding, also known as radiofrequency welding, is a specialized technique used in the medical industry to join or seal thermoplastic materials together. It involves the application of high-frequency electromagnetic energy to heat and melt the surfaces of the materials, creating a strong bond when they cool and solidify. This process is commonly used for manufacturing medical devices such as bags, pouches, tubing, and inflatable products, where a reliable and secure seal is crucial to maintain the integrity of the contents or to prevent contamination.
Medical RF welding offers several advantages, including the ability to create hermetically sealed seams without the need for adhesives or stitching, ensuring a smooth, clean surface that is resistant to fluid ingress and easy to clean. Moreover, it enables precise control over the welding parameters, resulting in consistent and reproducible welds with minimal thermal damage to the surrounding materials.
What Are Some Products Made with Medical RF Welding?
Intravenous infusions, chemotherapy, blood, enteral nutrition, stoma and urology, laparoscopy, enemas, and fluid filtration bags are manufactured with medical RF sealing. In addition, this process involves blood pressure cuffs, hot compresses, cold compresses, compression leg sleeves, aerial broadcasts, body bags, wheelchair blocks, fixing pillows, breathing bags, implants, vein arm plates, stretchers, centrifuges, and sterilization. Used in manufacturing are indicators, tourniquets, catheters, liquid pump cartridges and other disposable devices. These products are widespread and diverse, but the techniques for sealing them are essentially the same.
What Kinds of Materials Can’t Be RF Welded?
While the RF heat sealing process is extremely useful in many cases, not all plastics can be heated at radio frequencies. Polystyrene, polypropylene, and polyethylene are common materials that do not respond to RF energy. Many medical manufacturers have invested heavily in RF systems, so there is a strong incentive to maintain RF compatibility when creating new materials, such as materials formulated in place of PVC.
How Does Medical RF Welding Work?
RF sealing is pressure-conducted through two or more layers of dielectric plastic so that when the material melts, the molecules of all plastic layers merge. When the polarity of radio waves passing through plastic changes, the polarized molecules in the polymer vibrate back and forth, causing friction at the molecular level and generating heat. This heat, when generated with sufficient energy, melts the plastic and seals the layers.
The result of this process is a seal with resistance equal to the material itself. The seals are consistent, nearly transparent, and uniform in appearance and size. The basic RF sealer consists of a radio transmitter and a pneumatic press that opens and closes the energy applicator. Transmitters are called RF generators because they generate radio frequency wave energy instead of transmitting radio signals.
When Was Medical RF Welding First Used?
The exact time when RF technology was first used for medical products is unknown, but it is estimated to be around 1945. The first types of products made with this process were items like plastic raincoats, 3-ring binders, and wallets. Subsequent overall uses included medical bags, pool linings, various automotive products, tents, canopies, and packaging.
Take a look at some of the medical products that Vinyl Technology has created to see even more examples of products made with this technique.
