GE’s LEXAN* HPS7 Resin helps give new wrist fixation device exceptional strength, light weight, and autoclave performance

Individuals unfortunate enough to have suffered a Colles Fracture – a common fracture at the wrist joint due to a fall on an outstretched hand – or other injury requiring wrist distraction may have been surprised to learn how much conventional wrist fixation devices can resemble something out of the dark ages. Now, however, cutting-edge polycarbonate (PC) technology from GE Advanced Materials has helped one healthcare OEM pioneer a new clear, lightweight, radiolucent wrist fixation system for modern times. In fact, the GE resin pushes the performance envelope in several important directions and represents a major step forward in advanced healthcare application design.

Rigid fx Orthopedics Corp. selected GE’s LEXAN* HPS7 resin to develop its ClearView™ Wrist Fixation System, a new product that offers benefits to patients and doctors alike. Patients can appreciate the ClearView Wrist Fixator’s ultralight 1.9-oz (0.26-kg) weight and high-tech appearance that offer an option to eliminate the need for unwieldy, heavy, and uncomfortable traditional devices. Surgeons can benefit from the material’s translucent and radiolucent qualities where most conventional wrist fixators continue to be bulky metal rod-and-screw devices that can impede the ability of X-rays to determine healing. Clear LEXAN HPS7 resin, however, helped enable Rigid fx Orthopedics to develop a device that provides surgeons with an unobstructed view of the trauma area from any viewing angle – AP, oblique, or lateral.

Another significant factor in Rigid fx’s selection of LEXAN HPS7 resin is the GE material’s ability to deliver superior impact resistance even after multiple autoclave cycles. This biocompatible, lipid-resistant PC resin can also deliver continued performance after repeated exposure to gamma or steam sterilization.

“The unique, high-performance design of the ClearView Wrist Fixator required an innovative material technology and the formulation expertise that few suppliers can provide,” said Mark Estrada, president of Rigid fx Orthopedics Corp. “GE Advanced Materials delivered on all fronts to help us pioneer this first-of-its kind orthopedic device.”

GE Advanced Materials introduced LEXAN HPS7 resin in June of this year, signaling two major advances in the company’s polycarbonate resin technology:

1. Improved lipid resistance through retention of tensile elongation at typical three- to four-day exposure, with data indicating improvement even out to six days; and

2. Superior hydrolytic stability and excellent retention of impact strength after multiple autoclave cycles, unlike most competitive lipid-resistant PCs.

“The ClearView Wrist Fixator highlights GE Advanced Materials’ strong supportive role in innovating advanced healthcare application design,” says Clare Frissora, market director for Healthcare at GE Advanced Materials. “LEXAN HPS7 resin is an excellent example of the many products in our portfolio that offer a broad range of properties to address healthcare industry demand for new high-performance materials.”

LEXAN HPS7 resin is ISO 10993 biocompatible1 and uses a proprietary non-brominated formulation to achieve gamma stability. It delivers a melt flow index (MFI) of 5g/10 minutes at 300 C/1.2kg. Due to its excellent lipid, gamma, and autoclave performance, this new grade may also offer benefits to other healthcare segments such as blood-care, surgical support equipment, and fluid-delivery. Potential applications include blood dialyzer components, stopcocks, luers, and Y-sites.

GE Advanced Materials is exhibiting its portfolio of high-performance healthcare materials here at the Medica Tradeshow in Hall 10, Booth A56.

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Netherlands

+31 164 29 20 97

helen.vandebovenkamp@​ge.com

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