Medical Design Briefs - December 2021 - 15

biomolecules to the surface while providing
a hydrogen bonding platform to
adhere to them.
Treating the surface in this manner
has many benefits, including improved
analyte wetting of wells; greater proliferation
of cells without clumping;
reduced amount of serum, urine, or
reagents required for testing; and
lower risk of overflow and cross-well
contamination.
Coating Plastics to Prevent
Leaching
Using plastic labware can raise concerns
about leaching. Since plastic labware
is susceptible to leaching from plasticizers,
stabilizers, and polymerization
residues, plasma is used to coat
the
inside of containers with a quartz-like
barrier material. These flexible quartzlike
coatings are polymerized onto the
plastic by plasma enhanced chemical
vapor deposition.
The resulting coating can be a very
thin (100-500 nm), non-crystalline,
highly conformal, and highly flexible
(180° ASTM D522) coating.
Similarly, there can be concerns about
potential leaching from plastics in contact
with the product in the food and
beverage industry.
To prevent plastic leaching, industry
producers can coat the plastic using
plasma treatment. The two treatment
options are a PTFE type coating, or on
the opposite side of the spectrum, a silicone
quartz coating to create a near
glass-like surface.
R&D Assistance
If R&D assistance is required, plasma
treatment is standard enough that leading
equipment providers can modify
existing, mature tools and technology,
complete with fixturing, to deliver what
are essentially drop-in solutions.
Like PVA TePla, for example, some
providers provide access to on-site
research and development equipment
and engineering expertise.
A system can [plasma] treat multiple
parts and have multiple recipes, and. it
can be used on multiple product lines.
However, for those who want plasmatreated
parts or components without
investing in in-house equipment,
the
solution is to utilize a contract processor.
With this approach, the parts are
shipped, treated, and returned within a
mutually agreed time frame. For small
or infrequent batches, this can significantly
lower the price per part.
Working with a contract processor has
advantages in tapping into the years of
technical expertise applying various
plasma treatments; this can often speed
R&D efforts.
As applications and production volumes
continue to evolve, collaborating
with a partner with deep plasma treatment
expertise can provide a quicker
time to market for a customer's product.
Either way that medical device manufacturers
choose, by altering the surface
properties of plastics, those in charge of
R&D and production improve the quality
of test results while increasing the
value of their products.
This article was written by Ray Chen, Sales
Representative, and Ryan Blaik, Sales
Manager, at PVA TePla America, Corona,
CA. For more information, visit http://
info.hotims.com/79420-340.
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Medical Design Briefs - December 2021

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