This new seal verification technology from Bemis Healthcare is sure to be a hit in the medical device packaging companies.
Designed specifically for them it offers an easy way to check seal strength.
Bemis Healthcare Packaging has recently introduced a new seal verification technology for coded medical device packaging
The technology is innovative in that it gives the operator a real time, non-intrusive, visual indication of seal quality. This makes it easy for the operator to determine if the seals on sterile barrier film packaging are optimal and of a sufficient standard.
The process works by generating a blue pigment colour that only materializes under proper seal conditions. Conditions include specific chemistry, heat and constant levels.
David Vanden Heuvel at Bemis Healthcare has commented that this new system is a result of extensive collaboration with customers, understanding their needs in a market where quality and performance are key drivers. It’s this customer centric research and development which has led them to the development of the ‘game changing’ technology.
This is an emerging technology platform. The breakthrough is credited to Bemis’s material science department. Here they have market leading, in house expertise. These extensive capabilities allow for customer driven innovation that would otherwise be made difficult and cumbersome.
The below steps illustrate some of the seal verification technologies processes –
- The blue pigment is generated once the sealing process is complete and in line with combination chemistry that is already forms part of the heat seal packaging substrate.
- The blue pigment deepens in colour in accordance with the seal strength. This makes it easy to determine any defects on a scale of severity. These measurements can be done in real time as the operator uses the heat sealer machine.
- The process then uses a method called ETO sterilisation to ensure that the colour pigment is reversed once seal strength has been established. This means that there is no visual abnormalities on the packaging once it reaches the end user.
This breakthrough technology from Bemis Packaging is sure to be a hit. Creating optimal seals for validatable packaging is a big challenge for many medical device companies, particularly when it comes to ensuring consistency.
Here is to a successful product launch.
