Saint-Gobain Seals continues its long-standing relationship with OEMs

Jun 17 2014

Saint-Gobain Seals continues its long-standing relationship with OEMs in the high-speed surgical drill market as their integral supplier of OmniSeal® spring-energized seals. The seals excel at protecting the sensitive internal components of the drill during surgery and sterilization, ensuring a long life of the tool.

High-speed surgical drills are used for cranial, spine, ENT and orthopaedic procedures, typically small in size to accommodate maneuverability in tight spaces. Since they can operate at speeds up to 80,000 rpms, they are used in a wide variety of surgical procedures.

The benefits of OmniSeal® spring energized seals in high-speed surgical tools include:

• Dry Running (no lubrication required)
• Low friction for high speeds (80,000+ rpms), low wear and long life
• Compensates for shaft misalignment
• Compatible with steam autoclave sterilization (materials rated to 600°F [316°C])
• FDA and USP Class VI Compliant materials

Additionally, Saint-Gobain Seals offers a number of FDA compliant (Title 21 CFR §177.1550) and/or USP Class VI certified materials suited to address a variety of challenges. The company not only provides sealing solutions for the high-speed surgical drill market but other medical markets such as surgical cutting tools. For this particular market, their OmniSeal®, OmniLip™ and Meldin® seals, vanes and bearings are ideal for high-speed, dry running, FDA compliant applications that require sterilization and long life. These requirements are accomplished by utilizing cutting edge materials, quality driven manufacturing and an engineer-to-engineer design approach. Specific examples of surgical tool applications include harmonic scalpels and endoscopic staplers.

As a trusted manufacturing partner in the Life Sciences market for over 30 years, Saint-Gobain Seals’ key elements in their sealing and polymer designs address critical sealing, friction control, chemical compatibility, material compliance and weight reduction. Their Fluoroloy® and Rulon® product lines consist of a family of proprietary materials that are composed primarily of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) based resins and developed to perform in the most diverse and extreme applications for not only the Life Sciences market but also the Aerospace, Oil & Gas and Automotive markets. There are more than 100 standard Fluoroloy® and Rulon® grades available, several of which are FDA compliant and USP Class VI certified, making them well suited for medical and analytical equipment applications such as chemical analyzers.

Source: Saint-Gobain Seals