Junkosha announced a new category of catheter liner at MD&M Midwest in Minneapolis. The company says its new Wrapped Liner category establishes a new approach to catheter liner construction, drawing on decades of expertise in sophisticated fluoropolymer technologies.
Junkosha says it has applied its proprietary PTFE tape engineering and wrapping technology to offer an alternative platform for catheter liners that combines high tensile strength, thin wall construction and flexibility.
The manufacturing process involves wrapping PTFE film around a mandrel to form the liner wall, rather than extruding a complete tube. By engineering the properties of the PTFE tape, Junkosha can create a liner platform that is designed to achieve a thin, uniform wall thickness with exceptional strength. This gives catheter designers and manufacturers greater freedom to select finer braid or coil wire, or to reallocate space elsewhere in the catheter construction.
“Catheter engineers often say that ‘profile is king,’ but a low-profile design is about more than simply reducing wall thickness,” said Steve Maxson, Founder of Maxson InSight Services. “The catheter still has to resist kinking and ovalization while keeping the flexibility its application needs. With extruded and film-cast liners already available in very thin walls, the real opportunity is how the balance between thin wall construction and strength work together to change how engineers approach catheter design.”
This balance of thin, strong and more uniform properties is the linchpin to new catheter development by potentially creating greater flexibility in how reinforcement is configured. Overall, the Wrapped Liner category is intended as a scalable platform that supports a growing portfolio of solutions tailored to evolving catheter requirements.
“Current catheter liners are either dip-coated PTFE built up on a mandrel or extruded PTFE, supplied as tubing cut-to-length,” explains Kevin LaDow, Chief Sales Officer of Junkosha USA Inc. “As we head into 2027, there is a need for a new category of liner; one that is not only manufactured differently, but provides unique benefits for small format catheter OEMs. Through this new approach, we are extending the possibilities of catheter design to support the development of next-generation medical devices designed to enhance flexibility and broaden the range of anatomies that may be accessed and treated.”
