When you have high-quality extrusion tubing requirements, Flexan understands your high-performance expectations. From simple ID/OD tubing to multi-lumen extrusion with tight tolerances, we are well-positioned to handle it all because of our expertise.
Medical tubing extrusion is the continuous process of forcing molten or uncured materials through a precision die to create long, consistent profiles used in medical devices. These extruded profiles become critical components in catheters, fluid lines, seals, and implantable systems, where dimensional stability and biocompatible materials are essential.
We specialise in custom silicone extrusion and thermoplastic medical tube extrusion tailored to demanding performance requirements. Using advanced medical extrusion technologies, we produce: tight‑tolerance tubing, complex multi‑lumen shafts, microbore lines, and specialty profiles for a wide range of medical devices.
From flexible, kink‑resistant thermoplastic tubing to silicone rubber extrusions that withstand repeated sterilisation, each design is engineered around your target dimensions, pressures, and clinical use cases. Whether you are replacing a molded component with an extruded profile or optimising an existing design, our extrusion in medical applications focuses on consistency, traceability, and manufacturability at scale.
Successful medical extrusion starts with clear technical requirements. Our engineers collaborate with your R&D, manufacturing, and sourcing teams to review:
During early discussions, we help refine wall thickness, tolerances, and material choices to support consistent extrusion and inspection. When qualifying a medical extrusion supplier, ask for evidence of material traceability, documented process controls and inspection results, and support for testing and validation. Confirm that the manufacturing environment meets your product’s cleanliness requirements, including cleanroom capability if your device requires it. Also assess whether the supplier can support your program from prototype builds through production volumes. These checks help your team evaluate supplier fit before committing to full production.
Whether you currently source from large providers such as Extrusion Technologies Inc or are evaluating alternatives, our goal is to make transferring or launching programs straightforward, with transparent DFM feedback and risk mitigation from prototype through scale‑up.
Our medical extrusion technologies support a range of tubing configurations, including single- and multi-lumen, microbore, co-extruded and multilayer, tapered, and reinforced designs. Each can be tailored to meet device requirements for size, flexibility, strength, and function.
Single‑lumen tubing is used for straightforward fluid or gas transfer lines in devices like IV sets or respiratory circuits. Multi‑lumen extrusion enables complex catheter functions—separate channels for guidewires, inflation, drug delivery, sensing, or steering within a single shaft—reducing overall profile size while increasing functionality.
Microextrusion is used when a medical device’s size or access requirements call for very small tubing dimensions, including a reduced outside diameter (OD), inside diameter (ID), or wall thickness. It is common in neurovascular, ophthalmic, and intraluminal devices, where precise tooling and stable extrusion help maintain lumen patency and the strength needed for reliable performance.
Beyond standard profiles, we offer advanced medical tube extrusion designs, including:
Multilayer extrusion benefits include integrating radiopaque stripes, lubricious inner layers, or chemically resistant barriers without secondary assembly steps. This can simplify manufacturing, reduce leak paths, and improve device reliability in the field.
Our in‑house tooling team designs and maintains extrusion dies, vacuum sizing systems, and downstream equipment to support rapid prototyping and stable production.
For development programs, we offer short‑run builds for design verification, followed by process optimisation for high‑volume manufacturing. Engineering reports, capability studies, and documented setups help you transfer data into your design history file and support regulatory submissions.
Silicone extrusion for medical tubing uses high‑purity silicone rubber formulated for biocompatibility and repeated sterilisation. Silicone rubber extrusions are ideal where softness, flexibility over a wide temperature range, and long‑term stability are important—such as in peristaltic pump tubing, respiratory circuits, and implantable components.
Silicone rubber can be extruded into tubing, profiles, and seals, or integrated with molded components in hybrid assemblies. Its resilience and low compression set make it suitable for dynamic seals and interfaces where consistent force over time is required.
We also extrude a broad portfolio of thermoplastic materials, including TPU, PVC, Pebax, nylon, and PEEK. These materials support a wide spectrum of mechanical and chemical performance: from soft, flexible lines to stiff, high‑pressure shafts and high‑temperature, chemically resistant tubing.
Thermoplastic materials are well‑suited for advanced catheter shafts, fluid management tubing, and biopharma transfer lines, especially when secondary operations like thermal bonding, tipping, or overmolding are required. Their melt‑processability also supports complex multilayer and co‑extruded constructions.
Selecting between silicone and thermoplastics depends on how the device will be used. Silicone generally offers superior elasticity, softness, and temperature stability, while thermoplastics provide higher tensile strength, better torque transmission, and more options for fine tuning stiffness and bondability.
We help you match properties—durometer, tensile strength, elongation, kink resistance, chemical compatibility, and clarity—to your clinical and manufacturing requirements so the chosen material supports both performance and scalable manufacturing.
Our medical extrusion capabilities support a wide range of applications, including diagnostic and interventional catheters, infusion and drainage sets, respiratory tubing, and biopharma fluid transfer lines.
Multi‑lumen catheter shafts enable simultaneous functions in minimally invasive procedures. Smooth, low‑particulate fluid‑management tubing maintains drug compatibility and flow accuracy. In biopharma manufacturing, consistent tubing dimensions help maintain validated flow and pressure profiles in single‑use systems.
Dimensional control is central to medical tubing manufacturing. We combine precise die and tooling design with closed‑loop process control and in‑line measurement to hold tight tolerances on OD, ID, wall thickness, and concentricity.
Laser micrometers, visual inspection, and statistical process control are used to document conformance and detect variation early. Production takes place in controlled manufacturing environments designed to limit contamination and support your cleanliness and regulatory expectations.
After extrusion, tubing can be cut to length, punched, flared, tipped, bonded, or integrated into subassemblies. We support secondary operations such as printing, joining to molded components, adding strain‑relief features, and incorporating fittings or connectors so you receive components ready for sterilisation and final device assembly.
Medical extrusion is a manufacturing process used to create continuous components such as medical tubing and profiles by forcing a medical-grade material through a precisely designed die. It enables manufacturers to produce components with controlled dimensions, consistent geometry, and tight tolerances for medical device applications.