CIE Components in Electronics
MediSpec Silicone Cable Solutions from Affinity Medical, a Molex company which offers a range of patient monitoring cable assemblies, ECG cables, cable assemblies for electrophysiology and custom engineered connector solutions, have helped extend the company’s capabilities to include design, development, and manufacturing of silicone moulded medical cables, connectors and other electromechanical products.
The products are developed in the company’s FDA Registered and ISO 13485 certified facility.
According to Bob Frank, general manager at Affinity Medical, “Our moulding capabilities and proven strength in design and development engineering have just been expanded to include custom liquid injection moulding of silicone. This unique low temperature, low pressure moulding capability enables us to create a moisture ingress protection bond between cable, connector and flex relief.”
Molex’s product development expertise has enabled Affinity to design reusable cable and interconnect systems that provide reliable, high performance and ergonomic solutions designed for challenging surgical applications. Molex designs, tests and validates its products to withstand the harsh environment of multiple sterilisation cycles by autoclave, as well as by proprietary Steris and Sterrad processes.
Silicone over-moulding provides a stronger bond to metal connector components than thermoplastic resins to allow a high number of steam sterilisation cycles. Also with silicone, the jacketed cable is durable and extremely flexible, and protects the cable core from harsh environments encountered during use and sterilisation. Overall, the silicone moulding resins used create a moisture-proof chemical and mechanical bond between the cable jacket, connector and flex relief.
Biocompatible materials meet US FDA and global biocompatibility and cytotoxicity requirements. Because of excellent flexibility and flex-life characteristics, Affinity Medical incorporates both extruded and “tubed-on” silicone cable jackets. Typical medical applications include endoscopy, surgical power tools and ophthalmic lasers.
