The New Gold Standard Has Arrived: PFX Flex™ vs. PTFE

By Suresh Sainath, Chief Technology Officer

For the last several decades, PTFE has been the preferred material for engineers developing advanced vascular and non-vascular catheters. Its blend of highly desired properties, including its high lubricity and flexibility, as well as its ability to be manufactured into extremely thin-walled tubing with tight dimensional control, has enabled the development of many of today’s…

What OEM Conversations are Revealing About the Future of Catheter Innovation

By Jim O'Connell, Chief Commercial Officer

After a lot of recent conversations with OEM teams, one thing is clear to me: the way we think about catheter materials is changing. For decades, fluoropolymers have set the benchmark for catheter performance. They’ve enabled incredible progress and earned their place in the industry. That history matters. But what I’m hearing more and more…

When Performance Meets Responsibility: Rethinking the Gold Standard in Medical Devices

A few weeks ago, we examined the USFDA’s recent statement on PFAS in medical devices and shared our perspective on what it could mean for the industry. In that article, we highlighted the FDA’s acknowledgment of the critical role that PTFE plays in medical devices today. PTFE has earned its reputation as the gold standard….

From Whisper to Wake-Up Call: PFAS and the Future of Medical Devices

A few years ago, five EU states – Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden – ignited conversations about restricting PFAS substances. While the early discussions were bold in scope, they initially drew limited attention and caused little disruption. But it didn’t take long before news of those conversations spread, raising real questions about how…

Simplifying steerable catheter assembly: a practical comparison of production techniques

By Kyle Degarady, Sr. Product Marketing Manager

For catheter designers today, creating effective and minimally invasive medical devices is imperative. Whether for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes, engineers are looking to design catheters that can navigate complex and tortuous vasculatures deep inside the human body. Steerable catheters offer a powerful solution to this challenge. With enhanced stability and increased control compared to non-steerable…

Enabling the next BRS revolution

By James M. Lindsey III, Senior Research Engineer

First conceived in the early 1990s, bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BRS) were developed to provide temporary arterial mechanical support and anti-proliferative effects similar to permanent metallic drug-eluting stents (DES), but then completely resorb into the body after a finite period of time, returning the vessel to its normal state. While metallic stents were (and still are)…

From head to toe: the expanding reach of endovascular therapy

By Rodrigo Silva, Global Product Manager, Zeus.

As endovascular treatment expands to the far reaches of the body, catheter innovation must keep pace. Never before has the need for catheters with a multitude of properties and functions been so great.

Next generation catheters: The trends shaping the future of catheter design

By Matt Allen, Senior Product Manager

Following COMPAMED 2019 in Dusseldorf, Matt Allen, Zeus’ Senior Product Manager, discusses the challenges facing catheter design today. Here’s his take on the exciting advances overcoming current obstacles, plus innovations coming down the line and what that means for future treatments.

Tie Layer: A breakthrough solution to catheter failure

By Matt Allen, Senior Product Manager

Product engineers at catheter manufacturing companies will be only too aware of the problem of delamination – the separation of material layers within the catheter. Typically, delamination issues are not detected until final testing, after catheter assembly is complete, incurring significantly high scrap costs for manufacturers.

Why emerging markets deserve more from medical device OEMs 

By Daryl Leach, Director of Global Market Management, Zeus

With emerging markets set to account for a third of the industry’s global revenue by 2022*, the growth opportunity for medical OEMs is enormous. Increased GDP and greater income per capita in developing countries means patients are becoming more proactive about their health. As a result, they can afford higher quality treatment plans and devices.