Davis-Standard LLC has sold a tubing extruder to a medical startup company in Tianjin, China — which makes micro-bore tubing made from poly-l-lactide (PLLA).
The line, installed last year, is producing tubing ranging in outside diameter from 1.7 millimeters to 2 mm.
“PLLA is a bioabsorbable resin ideal for applications that require a polymer to reside in the body for a controlled length of time before safely degrading and being absorbed internally, said Glenn Beasley, senior sales engineer at Davis-Standard, based in Pawcatuck, Conn. “Very few companies process this material due to the high resin cost and difficulty in achieving a quality end result.”
The line can run at rates of up to 50 meters per minute.
Davis-Standard has a subsidiary in Suzhou with a laboratory line capable of demonstrating PLLA technology, among other processes.
Tel. 860-599-1010, www.davis-standard.com.