On the occasion of the COMPAMED Forum November 16th to 18th, 2011 in Düsseldorf Dr. Richard Thomas, member of the medical technology team of BASF in Tarrytown, USA, is going to give a speech on the topic “Anti-infective Surfaces in Medical Devices”.
BASF, the world’s leading chemical company will be exhibiting its extensive portfolio of Hygentic® products and supporting services, the safe plasticizer Hexamoll® DINCH and a variety of high-performance plastics for medical technology applications (booth 8bG21, hall 08b).
In a press release the company states; “Hygentic® additives feature excellent antimicrobial effects. BASF cooperates with its customers to find solutions for medical device and equipment surfaces that durably prevent potentially hazardous microbial buildup”.
“Products enhanced with our additives support the hospital’s own measures taken to ensure hygiene,” explained Edgar Eichholz, Launch Manager Medical Device Materials. This minimizes the risk of medical devices contributing to the acquisition of infections.
Its broad product portfolio and its technical expertise enable BASF to offer formulations customized to meet specific demands. BASF’s developers work together closely with customers in this process. BASF’s medical devices team has technical capabilities to produce customized formulations and to incorporate them into a variety of materials, such as thermoplastics or silicones, at its technical center at Tarrytown, New York.
BASF is able to combine silver ions contained with a variety of substrates to meet the requirements of a given application as specified by manufacturers of medical devices and equipment. “This selective combination produces effects that enhance the efficiency of the individual components,” Eichholz explained. In the formulations obtained in this way, the silver ions can be controlled to act for a longer period, for example, or have a more rapid effect.
BASF’s dedicated microbiology team checks the various formulations obtained for antimicrobial effectiveness against relevant microorganisms, including mulitresistant pathogens like MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus).
BASF is also researching new generations of materials with novel surface effects that are of interest for medical devices and equipment and offers cooperation opportunities for medical device manufacturers.
Source: BASF, medlatest staff
published: October 19, 2011 in: Congresses and Meetings, Technology