Medical polymers conference planned.

Rapra Technology Ltd. will hold the Fifth International Conference on Medical Polymers, June 6-7 in Cologne, Germany.

The use of polymers in medical technology continues to grow and provides high value business opportunities, according to Rapra. Applications vary from high-tech miniature components to bone cement, degradable implants and bulk quantity items such as catheters and drip bags.

Medical Polymers 2006 brings together speakers and delegates from the whole medical device supply chain to discuss current industry issues.

This conference is said to appeal to anyone associated with the medical device industry. It is said to be of particular value for businesses involved with design and manufacturing, raw material supply and compounding.

Session 1 on Developments in Medical Thermoplastics will include the following presentations: "Advances in high-performance plastics for medical devices," Jean-Baptiste Bonnadier, Solvay Advanced Polymers, Belgium; "The merits of semi-crystalline engineering polymers in healthcare applications," Ernst A. Poppe, DuPont SA, Switzerland; "Alcohol and lipid-resistant acrylic-based plastics for medical devices," Peter Colburn, Cyro Industries, and Craig Schmidter, Degussa AG, Germany; "SEBS thermoplastic elastomers in the medical and pharmaceutical industries," Bob Wells, Consolidated Polymer Technologies; "POSS-based polyurethanes: From degradable polymers to hydrogels," Patrick Mather, Haihu Qin and Kyung-Min Lee, Case Western Reserve University; and "New co-polyester solutions for medical devices and pharmaceutical packaging," Thijs Jaarsma, Eastman Chemical BV, The Netherlands.

Session 2 on Regulatory Requirements in the Medical Industry will include the following presentation: "Polymers and biological safety testing: General and specific risk assessment," Lesley Reeve, Covance Laboratories, U.K.

Session 3 on Anti-Bacterial Polymers for Medical Devices will include the following presentations: "Antimicrobial polymers using metallic silver technology for the medical device industry," Michael Wagener, Bio-Gate Bioinnovative Materials GmbH, Germany; "Future technologies for biomedical applications," Joost Maas, TNO Science and Industry, The Netherlands; and "Bacterial adhesion to plasma modified polyethylene terephthalate," Yannis Missirlis, Maria Katsikogianni, Eleutherios Amanatides and Dimitrios Mataras, University of Patras, Greece.

Session 4 on Bonding Medical Plastics will include the following presentations: "Silicone adhesives and primers for medical plastics bonding," Marie Valencia, Kyle Rhodes, Bill Riegler, Rob Thomaier and Stephen Bruner, NuSil Technology; and "Bonding medical plastics," Bob Goss, Henkel Loctite Adhesives Ltd., U.K.

Session 5 on Textiles in Medical Devices will include the following presentations: "Medical textiles for tissue engineering," Marvi Sri Harwoko, Florent Budillon and Dilibaier Aibibu, Institut fur Textiltechnik der RWTH, Germany; and "Medical applications of polymer textile fibers," Robert Mather, Mather Technology Solutions and Heriot-Watt University, U.K.

Session 6 on PVC and Polyolefins in Healthcare will include the following presentations: "PVC in medical applications--an overview," John Svalander, ECVM, Belgium; "Dedicated polyolefins for the healthcare industry," Dirk Matthijs, Borealis Polymers NV, Belgium; and "Cycloolefin-copolymers: An innovative, transparent plastic material for applications in medical and diagnostic," Michael Grimm, Topas Advanced Polymers GmbH, Germany.

Session 7 on Polymer Processing for Medical Manufacturing will include the following presentation: "Innovative polymer processing technologies for medical and drug delivery devices manufacturing," Simone Maccagnan, Gimac Microextruders, Italy.

Session 8 on Silicone Polymers for Medical Applications will include the following presentations: "Silicones in medical applications," Andre Colas, Dow Coming SA, Belgium; "LSR top coat for healthcare applications," Egbert Klaassen, GE Bayer Silicones GmbH, Germany; and "Techbarrier-Siox vacuum deposited film for medical and pharmaceutical packaging," Jian Wu, Marubeni Europe PLC, Germany, and Yoshihiro Himi, Mitsubishi Plastics, Japan.

Session 9 on Polymers in Drug Delivery will include the following presentations: "Synthesis of polymeric biocompatible materials for controlled drug delivery by means of supercritical technology," Juan Francisco Rodriguez, Antonio de Lucas, Ignacio Gracia and Eng Rosario Mazarro, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain; and "Triggered release of therapeutics from medical polymers," Colin McCoy, Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Session 10 on Medical Device Design will include the following presentations: "Sustainable design opportunities in healthcare," Ryder Meggit, Element 06, and Neil Tierney, Lightweight Medical, U.K.; and "Advances in product design for medical applications with the help of a novel fully customizable photopolymer material-class for three-dimensional applications--materials, properties and examples," Arthur Bens, Carsten Tille and Hermann Seitz, Center of Advanced European Studies and Research.

Further information on this conference is available from Sharon Garrington, tel.: [phone]; fax: [phone].