NORWOOD, Mass.– A PTFE coating can be applied to stainless steel and nitinol hypodermic tubing used in medical devices without altering their physical properties, according to Applied Plastics Co., Inc. of Norwood, Massachusetts.

Applied Plastics offers a PTFE Coating Service that applies a precise coating onto stainless steel and nitinol hypodermic tubing, providing optimum lubricity without flaking, cracking, or altering the tubing's physical properties, the company said in a press release. Exhibiting the high slip resistance required for medical device manufacturing, these hypotubes are chemically inert, bio-compatible, and operate up to 288°C.

Applied Plastics' PTFE Coating Service is reported to provide superior adhesion due to a proprietary tubing surface preparation, and is available in green, grey, black, and blue colors. According to the company, PTFE can be applied with ±0.0001-inch to ±0.0004-inch tolerance on OEM hypotube variations, including spiral, skived, flared, crimped, ground, and slotted types. The PTFE Coating Service is priced according to material, quantity, and special customer requirements. The firm can also source the hypotubes.