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FLEXcon Collaborates with Polestar Technologies to Manufacture Optical CO2 Sensor

SPENCER, Mass.–FLEXcon Company, Inc., a provider of custom manufacturing services that include adhesive coating and laminating, recently announced a collaboration with Polestar Technologies to manufacture optical sensor technology for use with life support systems, such as the mixed gas rebreathers used by emergency personnel, and for recreational diving.

Polestar Technologies (www.polestartech.com), located in Needham Heights, Massachusetts, specializes in high-tech sensors and monitoring equipment. The company holds intellectual property for a sensing composite that needed to be coated on a pressure-sensitive product. FLEXcon, through application testing with Polestar and work with suppliers, successfully manufactured a commercial quantity of the product that will be generally available to the diving community in the near future, according to FLEXcon (www.flexcon.com).

The rebreather product is a quarter-sized disc of polymer film that changes from blue to yellow in a reversible and predictable way when exposed to CO₂. A white LED light illuminates the disc from a sealed pot below that houses the electronics. Then, a digital meter reads the color, which is converted to the CO₂ level.

"Polestar Technologies is a great example of how FLEXcon collaborates with companies on concepts and brings their technology into manufacturing scale," said Shaun McDonough, medical market development specialist, performance products business team, FLEXcon, in a press release. "Regardless of the size or the turnaround time for sales, FLEXcon relishes the chance to solve problems for our customers and technology partners. We are proud of the continual iterative process FLEXcon uses to ensure Polestar gets the right product for their application."

"FLEXcon made it easy to take an idea from concept to reality," said Jim Biagioni, COO at Polestar Technologies. "The team worked with us every step of the way to translate our technology from a lab scale to a repeatable, manufacturing process. FLEXcon developed a custom solution for us to use in our product development that solves a real need for our customer base."