Analysts: Demand for LSR in medical driving growth

Opportunities for liquid silicone rubber in the medical market are plentiful and 2017 should be another busy year for contract manufacturers.

Demand for LSR in medical is one of the fastest growing segments of the overall silicones market, according to Kent Furst, an analyst with the Freedonia Group who covers the silicones industry. Furst projects segment growth at 7-8 percent per year during the next five years with double-digit growth in Asia.

Health care spending in Asia is increasing by more than 10 percent per year.

“LSR technology is not as widespread in Asia as it is in the U.S., which is both a challenge and an opportunity,” Furst said in an email.

Bob Waitt, medical market manager for Bluestar Silicones, said LSR is perfect for molding high volume parts or requiring precise and specific parts thanks to the injection molding process, which allows producers to automate the process much like in thermoplastics — efficient and repeatable.

But LSR also has many benefits that make it an ideal choice for medical applications. Luis Tissone, life sciences director for Trelleborg Sealing Solutions in America, said the main advantage is LSR can be processed in a closed loop system, greatly decreasing the risk of contamination. The material's excellent properties and overall performance allow it to achieve many shapes in demanding environments while meeting many rigorous regulatory requirements.

“Liquid silicone has an inherit advantage over the heat cured or gum based silicones,” said Randy Ross, CEO of Q Holding Co., the parent company of LSR manufacturer Qure Medical. “With liquid you basically open the two vessels and put the dosing system on. The raw material is never exposed to the open air. Your potential to get a contaminant in there is significantly reduced compared to an HCR or a heat cured silicone. On those you're going to put them in the mixer, put them in an open mill, to get the material prepared. LSR has a very clear advantage in cleanliness.”

Tissone listed a number of key global megatrends that are driving the strong demand for new medical devices worldwide, and thus driving demand for LSR. More Asia-Pacific countries are starting to adopt more advanced Western medical technology. Ross said China and India have ideal demographics for growth.

“These are markets that formerly didn't have this kind of technology 10 years ago,” Ross said. “Today you put a big hospital in, you teach and the demand is altered just by offering the services and full Western medicine technology centers. There are enormous population centers that now have access to these treatments that use these high-end medical devices.”

In the more established regions, increasingly strict regulations applied by the Food and Drug Administration are driving the need for more advanced material and product testing. Tissone added that silicone manufacturers have improved their medical LSR grades across the board over the years.

“They have made it more accessible in terms of price,” Tissone said. “They've increased the ability to process LSR in the fully automated closed loop manufacturing system and have made it more attractive overall for industries like medical device and many others.”

But one of the biggest trends is aging population. Specifically, the baby boomer generation is one of the largest on record and is reaching retirement age.

“We're talking about a generation that's double the size and is going to need all of this care that's changing so drastically to home care, and of course better hospital care, over the next 20 years,” Tissone said. “Aging population is going to be one of the key factors for many years ahead.”

There also is a trend towards moving patients away from the hospital and increasing in-home care. Rey Obnamia, vice president of technology and regulatory affairs for IRP Medical, said diabetes is one of the biggest focuses for self-monitoring wearable devices. Patients now can equip an injectable insulin pump to their bodies and monitor themselves with a smart device.

The next step is going into artificial pancreas, which would sense what the body will need and give the appropriate dose of the insulin when the body needs it. All of this controlled through a smart device.

A spokeswoman for Freudenberg Medical said in an email that if the device has contact with the skin or body, LSR is an ideal material. The firm is seeing LSR used in implantable applications, combination products like drug-coated silicone and in trends like personalized health care.

“The world trend right now isn't cardio anymore, it's all about sugar,” Obnamia said. “So it's diabetes and it's a rat race. You see the big medical OEMs have their own brands and they're diving into the trend on diabetes management. A lot of people have type 2 diabetes because of poor diet.”

There are other opportunities for LSR beyond wearables. Obnamia said there is an ongoing trend of trying to replace HCR silicones because LSR has evolved to the point where it is competitive on price.

“In 2017 we are going to continue to see conversion from HCR to LSR, especially in the Americas, as well as more sophisticated molding and automation in order to move silicone processing into the 21st century,” the Freudenberg spokeswoman said. “The market is driven by mega trends within our industry and in society. Miniaturization in medical devices, improvements in patient monitoring devices and drug delivery to make patients' lives easier; devices are becoming our everyday companion, handheld style.”

Jorg Prescher — head of Raumedic AG's center of excellence, silicone molding — identified multi-functional pump segments with very narrow tolerances and high dosing accuracy as another opportunity for LSR.

He added that other opportunities for LSR include the integration of bubble detection segments and injection/infusion systems with modified silicone plungers.

LSR also can be used for optical applications, which is traditionally LED lighting, but Furst said there definitely are opportunities in medical. Corrective lenses currently use a softer silicone gel rather than LSR, but he added that LSR is perfect for small, intricate parts where optical clarity is needed. It also has advantages compared to materials like polycarbonate or acrylics.

Brendan Cahill, president of PTG Silicones Inc., also sees optically clear products as a big opportunity for the overall LSR market, though he admitted he isn't sure how much of that will occur in medical. He sees continued opportunities on the two-shot side, bonding silicone to another thermoplastic part.

Regardless, it's clear the future for LSR in the medical industry is bright.

“The material has been discovered more and more in new applications,” Prescher said. “There is an increase in the perception of the positive product properties such as the reliability of the application of medical silicone products. Despite the difficult processing properties, medical silicone continues to gain more and more fans and supporters in the medical market.”