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SABIC Sees Material Growth In Home Health-Care DevicesSubmitted Article
06:30PM / Monday, March 01, 2010
Tom O'Brien
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Tom O'Brien, product marketing manager for health-care products at SABIC Innovative Plastics, talks about the growing demand for health equipment in the home and Pittsfield company's expected growth in the field.
Q. What are today's most important trends regarding home health-care medical devices?
One of the most important trends SABIC Innovative Plastics is seeing in the use of home health-care medical devices is increased usage due to the move toward self-care to reduce costs and boost efficiency of home care delivery; consumers' increasing medical knowledge and desire to play a larger role in their own care; and greater emphasis on monitoring of widespread, chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure to improve outcomes. Examples of home health-care devices include continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) devices, nebulizers, drug delivery devices, digital signal processing hearing aids, glucose monitoring systems and self-test (in vitro diagnostic) devices. The global market for home health-care devices is set to grow by more than 9 percent by 2012 with the market exceeding $70 billion in 2012.
Q. Why are plastics increasingly important in the design and manufacture of home health-care medical devices?
Home health care is a fast-growing market segment where SABIC Innovative Plastics' materials are playing a pivotal role. Consumers using devices at home have specific needs that only plastics and plastic compounds can address. First, devices need to be lightweight and portable so patients — particularly the elderly, ill and disabled — or their caregivers can lift, move and operate them without assistance. Plastics can significantly reduce weight and mass when used as replacements for metal and other traditional materials.
Another requirement for home use is ease of maintenance — plastics are easy to keep clean and are resistant to common household cleansers. To encourage consumer use, these devices need to be aesthetically pleasing. In fact, they are, in many respects, becoming household furniture that needs to blend with home furnishings. Plastics can be colored, given different manufacturing surface textures and finishes, and, of course, are easily molded into pleasing designs. Finally, it is important to control costs so that these consumer devices are affordable. Plastics help reduce system costs through part consolidation, elimination of secondary operations such as painting, and acceleration of throughput.
Q. What material technologies support design and development of new home health-care devices?
The wide variety of high-performance plastics available from SABIC Innovative Plastics offer different property combinations needed to meet diverse device requirements. One of the most promising areas is the evolution of plastic compounds. Compounds can deliver exceptionally high performance, including mechanical strength, lubricity, wear resistance, and dimensional stability, to facilitate tight tolerances for device specifications. For example, SABIC's LNP, or Lubricomp, compounds are excellent candidates for applications where lubrication and wear resistance are required, and LNP Thermocomp compounds are known for their inherent toughness.
Q. What about consumer appeal — how do plastics help drive adoption of home devices?
With the expansion of home health care, designers are focusing on greater ergonomics and aesthetics to make devices comfortable and attractive for consumers. Plastics give device manufacturers greater design freedom than metal and glass. The ability to mold complex shapes and to consolidate parts are important in creating eye-catching ergonomic designs. Just as the right design makes a device easier and more comfortable to use, particularly when used repetitively, an attractive appearance makes it less intrusive in the home setting. Again, plastics can be enhanced with an almost infinite array of colors, special effects, textures and finishes to blend in with home decor.
Additionally, a combination of durability and light weight is critical for many home health-care devices. They need to be easy to lift and transport, yet tough enough to withstand being dropped onto hard floors. Plastics can provide a lighter-weight alternative to metal, especially through thin-wall molding technologies that preserve strength while reducing mass and weight.
Q. With the emphasis on reducing health-care costs, how can plastics help make devices more affordable?
By using plastics to create high-end home health-care devices, manufacturers can slash system costs and help drive down the overall cost of the product – via part consolidation, elimination of secondary operations and accelerated throughput. For example, molded-in colors and effects in plastics eliminate the need for secondary painting and coating. Plastics can improve mold flow and mold release properties. SABIC Innovative Plastics products are also able to provide the benefits of co-polymer technology to improve flow characteristics while maintaining impact strength. Impact strength is a key characteristic that makes the Lexan HPX resins excellent candidates for home healthcare applications such as respiratory and drug delivery devices.
Q. How is SABIC Innovative Plastics making it easier for device manufacturers to get their products through the regulatory approval process?
SABIC Innovative Plastics has created a comprehensive health-care product policy — including more than 50 high-tech materials that were designed with the intent of supporting OEMs in achieving regulatory compliance. This high-value service ensures the consistency and biocompatibility of SABIC Innovative Plastics' health-care grades.
Q. Is SABIC Innovative Plastics investing in development of new materials for the healthcare industry?
Yes, SABIC Innovative Plastics has a dedicated team of health-care industry managers with specialized expertise and knowledge in developing materials focused on the needs of healthcare device manufacturers, clinicians, and patients. This team assesses market drivers and trends and guides the expansion of the company's portfolio to meet these market dynamics. SABIC Innovative Plastics has created a Center of Excellence in its Processing Development Center in Pittsfield to support the health-care industry with laboratory testing and evaluation equipment that enable the company to better assess the performance of their materials in medical applications.
SABIC has increased its health-care products portfolio by approximately 20 percent in the last two years, including new capabilities for autoclaving and new materials for smaller, more intricate parts as well as long or complicated flow lines. The company's Lexan HPX copolymer resin series, for example, offers new improvements to balance flow and impact, while new grades of Lexan HP resin give customers yet another option for higher-flow healthcare materials.
O'Brien is responsible for the growth and expansion of SABIC Innovative Plastics health-care programs in North America by anticipating industry trends, assessing customer needs, and continued customer acquisition. He was appointed to his position in 2009.
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