Junkosha used MD&M Midwest in Minneapolis to introduce a new catheter liner category it calls Wrapped Liner, a construction approach that wraps PTFE film around a mandrel instead of extruding a complete tube.
The company said the platform draws on its work in fluoropolymer technologies and applies proprietary PTFE tape engineering and wrapping technology. By engineering the properties of the tape, Junkosha aims to produce a liner with thin, uniform wall thickness and high tensile strength while retaining flexibility.
A different way to build the wall
The liners Junkosha contrasts its approach with are either dip-coated PTFE built up on a mandrel or extruded PTFE supplied as cut-to-length tubing. In the Wrapped Liner route, the wall is formed from wrapped film. According to the company, that gives catheter designers and manufacturers more room to specify finer braid or coil wire, or to reallocate space elsewhere in the catheter construction.
Kevin LaDow, Chief Sales Officer of Junkosha USA Inc., said the industry is approaching 2027 with a need for a liner category that is not only manufactured differently but also delivers particular advantages to small-format catheter OEMs. Through the approach, Junkosha says it is widening design possibilities for next-generation devices intended to improve flexibility and reach a broader range of anatomies that may be accessed and treated.
Balancing profile and performance
Steve Maxson, founder of Maxson InSight Services, said catheter engineers often treat profile as the governing constraint, but argued that low-profile design involves more than reducing wall thickness: the device must still resist kinking and ovalization while keeping the flexibility its application demands. He noted that extruded and film-cast liners are already available in very thin walls, and said the real opportunity lies in how thin-wall construction and strength work together to change the way engineers approach catheter design.
Junkosha frames that combination of thin, strong and more uniform properties as the linchpin of new catheter development, potentially giving engineers greater flexibility in how reinforcement is configured. The company describes Wrapped Liner as a scalable platform meant to support a growing portfolio of solutions tailored to evolving catheter requirements.
The characteristics described are company claims and supporting commentary; the source material does not include independently measured performance data for the new liner category.