Medical Braiding Solutions
To improve strength, flexibility, and durability, medical device braiding uses biocompatible materials to weave tight patterns around tubing and cables used in catheters, endoscopes, and stents. Medical braiding solutions provide mechanical reinforcement, preventing the tubing from collapsing under pressure or kinking during use, and ensuring the device can withstand repeated movement. We provide medical device braiding capabilities to enhance structural integrity, protect delicate internal components, and extend the lifespan of minimally invasive devices.
What is Medical Device Braiding?
Medical device braiding is a specialized technique that interweaves ultra-fine metal wires or polymer fibers into a tubular mesh around components, including:
- Tubing
- Mandrels
- Device structures
It is designed to reinforce flexible components by providing mechanical properties for specific applications. These braided solutions minimize tissue trauma, enhancing performance through variables such as filament diameter, braid angle, and pick count. With medical braiding, minimally invasive components can achieve pushability and torque transfer, allowing the device to move forward and not just compress.
Performance Benefits of Medical Braiding for Catheter Reinforcement
Catheters, steerable devices, and endoscopes for neurovascular, cardiovascular, and other precise operations benefit from medical braiding solutions. Medical device braiding can handle any tubular core, including triangular or octagonal shapes, to provide reinforcement that improves device performance factors, such as:
- Pushability and trackability
- Torque transmission and flexibility
- Kink and fatigue resistance
- Structural integrity
Braiding vs. Coiling for Medical Devices
Both braiding and coiling reinforce medical devices, offering different properties depending on the device requirements. While braiding interweaves strands of metal or polymer, coiling wraps a single wire helically around the core, similar to a spring. Coiling offers lumen integrity to resist ovalization, low-profile solutions for smaller diameters, and flexibility and trackability by allowing the device to bend tightly without kinking. Braiding is preferred for its torque transmission, pushability, column strength, and burst pressure that resists radial expansion.
Medical Braiding Capabilities at Primo Medical Group
We can provide reel-to-reel or spooled, braid-over-core, cut-to-length loose braid, and cut-to-length braid on a non-rigid core using vertical braiders, or braid directly onto assemblies using horizontal braiders. With 16- and 32-carrier machines offering triaxial capabilities, our processes can run any pattern, including full-load, half-load, diamond, and triaxial, to meet your requirements. As a full-service contract manufacturing partner, we can provide design and DFM support and build-to-print for single- and multi-lumen designs.
Materials Used in Medical Braiding Solutions
Primo Medical Group works with a range of biocompatible materials to provide braided reinforcement for various medical devices. Our medical braiding solutions are compatible with, but not limited to, the following materials:
- Stainless Steel
- Kevlar®
- PEEK
- PET
Quality Assurance and Clean Manufacturing for Reliability
With quality and regulatory compliance practices, we ensure devices are designed and manufactured as intended to provide reliable, effective solutions. Medical device braiding is supported by ISO 13485:2016 certification, as well as clean manufacturing, inspection, testing, and more to guarantee products meet the stringent requirements of governing regulations. Primo Medical Group is an FDA-registered contract manufacturer of medical devices with a robust quality system focused on safety and performance.
Medical Braiding FAQs
For additional information on medical braiding solutions and our capabilities, we’ve answered some commonly asked questions about medical device braiding for reinforcement and applications:
What is medical device braiding?
Medical device braiding is used to reinforce specific devices by weaving metal or polymer filaments around components. It can also improve a variety of device performance factors, such as torque transmission, flexibility, and structural integrity.
Why is braiding used in catheter reinforcement?
Medical braiding solutions provide a supportive mechanical backbone for ultra-thin tubes, allowing them to navigate complex anatomic pathways without kinking, stretching, or loss of control by optimizing shaft properties.
What is the difference between braiding and coiling?
Braiding and coiling offer different reinforcement properties for medical devices: braiding interweaves strands in a crisscross pattern, while coiling winds around in a tight, uniform spiral or spring-like helix. Braiding primarily provides torque transmission and pushability, whereas coiling delivers kink resistance and flexibility.
What materials are used in medical braiding?
We commonly work with stainless steel, Kevlar®, PEEK, PET, and other biocompatible metal or polymer filaments in our medical braiding solutions.
Work with Primo Medical Group for Medical Device Braiding Solutions
Primo Medical Group offers over 70 years of experience and supports catheter manufacturing and other minimally invasive medical devices with medical braiding solutions. We are a contract manufacturing partner with a range of capabilities in medical device development and production, backed by ISO 13485:2016 certification and rigorous quality assurance, delivering high-quality, safe, reliable solutions. With a team of experts to help you from concept to fulfillment, we are always available to answer your call. Contact Primo Medical Group today or request a quote to begin.