This presentation will outline some of the procedures commonly used to assess the useful life-span on medical devices. It will describe, with refence to examples, cases in which inappropriate material selection or processing has rendered the device unfit for its intended purpose. In addition, some attention will be given to programes of ageing and shelf-life prediction.
Merrick will also be including a general overview of the position of a polymer consultancy such as Rapra as a resource to the medical industry.