How to Replace PVC in Medical Tubing Without Blowing Your Budget

Want to get PVC out of your medical tubing without changing the process, loosing on properties or killing your margin? PVC is still everywhere in medtech. Drainage sets, feeding tubes, IV tubing and many other consumables. It has stayed because the price to performance is hard to beat: it is cheap, clear, kink resistant and you can solvent bond it to almost anything. But PVC-free unlocks tender advantages in the Nordics, and PVC keeps causing trouble in biocompatibility testing. So many medtech companies are looking to replace PVC. In this case study we show how we have helped over 10 companies already to replace PVC in medical. The hard part is not finding a material with the same properties. It is finding one with the same properties that is also defensible on price. In this case study I take a medical tubing with real drop-in requirements: kink radius around 20 mm, Shore 75A, clear, solvent bonded with cyclohexanone to the connectors, EtO sterilized. CHAPTERS 00:00 The case: PVC-free medical tubing 00:52 Why go PVC-free: tenders in the Nordics 01:26 Plasticizers, biocompatibility and why PVC stayed 02:00 Device classes and sterilization 02:59 The requirements: drop-in, 20 mm kink radius, Shore 75A 03:36 The real challenge: PVC is dirt cheap 04:29 From interview to AI selection: 25,000 grades 05:37 The requirements sheet 07:18 Choose the resin first, then the extruder 07:38 The candidates: PVC vs four TPUs 08:40 The value analysis and why expert review matters 09:29 The winner: aromatic polyether TPU, medical grade 10:26 Medical grade or food grade? 11:18 Higher risk: polycarbonate-based TPU 12:11 Medical grade is insurance 12:37 Why LDPE and EVA were ruled out 13:35 The business case for PVC-free 14:12 Finding the extruder 14:43 Book a free 45-minute call ABOUT THE PODCAST MedTech Sustainability by Design: how medtech companies build more sustainable devices, one material decision at a time. Book a free consultation: https://calendly.com/lucas-pianegonda... Gradical: https://www.gradical.ch #MedTech #PVCFree #MedicalDevices #Plastics #MaterialSelection #MedicalTubing