Sabic Innovative Plastics has announced that GE Healthcare, a global leader in medical technology, has selected Valox resin for the housing of its new Optima XR220amx mobile x-ray machine and Xylex resin for the storage bins of the machine. 

These high-performance resins helped GE Healthcare address toughening requirements for enhanced patient safety and outcomes, more-efficient care delivery and cost-effectiveness with this innovative device, which brings diagnostic radiology to the patient’s bedside, the plastics manufacturer said.

Sabic Innovative Plastics offers a broad and growing portfolio of healthcare materials that provide solutions to changing regulatory, design and performance requirements facing its customers in the medical equipment sector, it added.

“Working with Sabic Innovative Plastics on this high-visibility project has been a great success for our customers – and ultimately their patients,” said Guillermo Sander, global marketing manager, Mobile DXR, GE Healthcare. “Using Valox and Xylex resins, we created a portable, easy-to-clean and attractive ‘radiographic room on wheels.’ The wide portfolio of resins and extensive application development services provided by Sabic Innovative Plastics helped us optimise the design and improve the performance of this next-generation diagnostic device.”

Tom O’Brien, global products marketing director, Healthcare, Sabic Innovative Plastics, remarked:  “Sabic Innovative Plastics is increasingly focused on helping healthcare OEMs worldwide diversify their device offerings with more advanced material technologies.” He pointed out that his firm had more than 15 years of close collaboration with GE Healthcare.

“For this new x-ray device, our materials provide light weight, chemical resistance, and durability,” he said.

Exceptional resistance
GE Healthcare chose Valox V3900WX resin, a high-impact polyester/polycarbonate (PC) blend, to design for healthcare industry requirements for increased safety of patients and improved cost control. Valox resin provides the exceptional chemical resistance of polyester to withstand stronger disinfectants being adopted to combat hospital-borne infections. For portable equipment such as the GE Healthcare device, it offers the high-impact resistance and dimensional stability of PC to withstand bumps and bangs during transport within the hospital. This flame-retardant (FR), ultraviolet (UV)-stabilised resin offers outstanding aesthetics and provides moulded-in colour as a cost-effective alternative to traditional painted metal. It also delivers enhanced processability needed for moulding large, high-quality, precision parts.

Valox resin offers significantly greater design freedom than metal to create new ergonomic designs. Broad moulded-in colour capability allowed GE Healthcare to achieve a customised bright white colour without the cost and environmental impact of secondary painting. Inherent colour also avoids the problem of paint scratches and makes the parts easier to clean.

Valox V3900WX resin is an Underwriters Laboratories (UL) global grade (GG) with a UL746C F1 all-colour rating. The GG designation provides enhanced flexibility for global customers by allowing programmes to move from one region of the world to another without the cost and complexity of material re-qualification. Its FR package provides a UL 94 V0 rating down to 1.5 mm wall thickness and a 5VA rating down to 3.0 mm wall thickness.

The Xylex X7519HP resin is a transparent blend of PC and amorphous polyester. Compared to PC alone, the addition of polyester provides enhanced chemical resistance, supporting efforts to reduce hospital-acquired infections. Polyester also enhances the resin’s stress crack resistance and permits lower processing temperatures. High impact resistance and glasslike transparency make Xylex resin ideal for storage containers. Like the Valox resin, this material features moulded-in colour.

Sabic Innovative Plastics offers a proactive healthcare product policy that covers more than 50 medical-grade materials and provides regulatory listings and pre-assessed biocompatibility to save manufacturers time and expense when developing a new product. The company offers amongst the broadest ranges of amorphous and crystalline materials for the healthcare industry.

Materials included under the Sabic Innovative Plastics’ policy are covered by a United States Federal Drug Administration (FDA) Drug or Device Master File and are subject to formula lock and a stringent change management process. Complementing its portfolio and healthcare policy, the company delivers knowledge and expertise that underscore its ongoing commitment to the market. Sabic Innovative Plastics continues to invest in and expand its portfolio of high-performance products to meet the latest requirements and stay ahead of important regulatory, scientific and consumer trends.