Crosslinked PTFE
AssigneeZeus Co., Ltd.
InventorsRobert L. Ballard, John Richard Campanelli, Patrick Cooper, Justin A. Marro, Douglas Lee Tourville, Bhavya Singhi
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present application relates generally to tubes, such as thin walled catheter liners with small wall thicknesses (e.g., less than 1 mm), including crosslinked fluoropolymers, e.g., crosslinked poly(tetrafluoroethylene). The disclosure further provides methods of manufacturing such tubes and systems for manufacturing such tubes.
Claims12
A tube having a wall thickness of less than 1 mm,
- wherein the tube consists essentially of crosslinked poly(tetrafluoroethylene), at least a portion of which is chemically modified with at least one reactive species such that at least a part of an inner surface and/or outer surface of the tube comprises crosslinked poly(tetrafluoroethylene) chemically modified with at least one reactive species;
- wherein the crosslinked poly(tetrafluoroethylene) has been crosslinked in a continuous process by irradiation with a gamma source under an inert atmosphere containing a reactive species;
- and
- wherein the reactive species activates at least a part of the inner surface and/or outer surface of the tube to provide reactive sites on those surfaces.
A tube having a wall thickness of less than 1 mm, comprising a crosslinked fluoropolymer, wherein the fluoropolymer has been crosslinked in a continuous process by irradiation with a gamma source under the following conditions:
- a. a temperature range corresponding to a range of a melting endotherm of the fluoropolymer in a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) scan;
- b. a dosage between 500 and 2500 kGy;
- and
- c. an inert atmosphere or vacuum,
- wherein at least a part of an inner surface and/or outer surface of the tube comprises crosslinked poly(tetrafluoroethylene) chemically modified with at least one reactive species.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.