Press Kit GE Plastics
Medica
15 - 18 November, 2006

GE’s Lexan* HPM Resin Raises the Benchmark for Hemocompatibility and Reduced Protein Binding in Medical Devices

BERGEN OP ZOOM, THE NETHERLANDS — November 15, 2006 — GE Plastics’ advanced Lexan* HPM polycarbonate resin is representative of GE Plastics’ response to the changing needs of the healthcare industry. It provides a major step-advance in hemocompatibility with substantially improved performance relative to platelet retention, leukocyte and C3a protein activation, and reduced Fibrinogen protein surface binding characteristics. All of which are innovations that may mean greater safety for patients undergoing surgery and with higher levels of care throughout recovery as well as during blood collection and donations.

GE Material Solutions That Can Aid Healthcare in Meeting the Challenge of Ageing Populations

BERGEN OP ZOOM, THE NETHERLANDS — November 15, 2006 — Decades of progressively improving healthcare have contributed in large measure to people living longer. But, while this success is a mark of societal advance and a benefit to humankind, it brings with it a new challenge, that of ageing populations and significant growth in the demand for healthcare services. The proportion of older people, 60 years and above, in many societies is growing faster than the segment made up of the young. This is a global phenomenon being experienced in both developed and developing countries, although its effects are more pronounced in industrialized countries many of which are also indicating declining birth rates.

GE Plastics’ Lexan* HPX Resin Delivers Outstanding Performance to the Intlock ITL-S Disposable Blade in PENTAX’s New Airway Scope

BERGEN OP ZOOM, THE NETHERLANDS — December 1, 2006 — GE Plastics today announced that its Lexan* HPX resin – a tough, high-tech transparent polycarbonate (PC) widely used in critical healthcare applications – has been selected by PENTAX to mold a specialized Intlock ITL-S disposable blade for the company’s new Airway Scope AWS-S100 video laryngoscope. Lexan HPX resin was selected by PENTAX for the material’s exceptional high-performance properties, including outstanding mechanical strength and toughness, incredible smoothness, and excellent transparency.

GE Plastics Helps Merivaara Spotlight New Material Solutions for its Merilux Examination Lamp

Merivaara, a leading supplier of medical equipment in northern Europe, designs its products to optimize patient treatment – both by improving patient comfort and by increasing caregiver efficiency. The company sought to redesign its Merilux X1 general-purpose examination lamp to reduce the amount of heat generated by the existing aluminum reflector, which could make the patient, examination room, and lamp housing too warm. At the same time, Merivaara wanted to simplify the design of the housing, which was constructed primarily of metal. To find better material solutions for these two very different components, Merivaara turned to GE Plastics because of its broad array of high-tech products and many value-added services.

GE Helps Ensinger Supply High-Performance Semi-Finished Parts to Medical Device Manufacturers

Ensinger is a producer of semi-finished plastic parts – including tubes, rods, and plates – that are supplied to manufacturers of end products such as medical devices. The company uses more than 100 different plastics to extrude, cast, compression-mold, and pultrude these parts.

Ensinger had been using polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) to produce its Tecanyl line of extruded rods and bars that are used by manufacturers of implant trial heads – temporary bone replacements placed in the body during surgery to determine the exact size of the final implant.

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