Fluoropolymer
Medical Tubing

Perfluoropolymers PTFE · FEP · PFA, partially fluorinated ETFE, and porous EPTFE — five materials across twelve items. Liners and catheter inner layers, radiopaque tubing, tearable sheaths and mandrels all do different jobs, so settling the role first narrows the item.

10 published items

Two made-to-order items — available to produce

Start from the role

With fluoropolymers, items divide less by material than by the role they play inside the catheter. Even within PTFE, a liner that becomes the inner layer and a mandrel that goes into the forming process and comes back out are different things.

A fluoropolymer liner is never the whole job. Etching, braiding and heat-shrink reflow are one continuous flow, so keeping them on one order keeps responsibility from splitting between steps.

Why is PTFE etched tube used together with FEP heat shrink?

The etched tube forms the lumen inner layer. FEP heat shrink goes over it, and heating carries through to the inside so the layers fuse into one. Etching chemically roughens the PTFE surface so it will bond at all. That is why the two items are ordered together.

What separates the extruded, co-extruded and coated liners?

The mandrel and the reachable dimensions. Extrusion runs without a mandrel at ID 0.004″–0.120″; co-extrusion and coating use a silver-plated copper mandrel at 0.35–1.5 mm and 0.1–1.8 mm. Coating gives the thinnest wall (0.005–0.012 mm) and the highest flexibility; extrusion gives the highest strength. The full three-route comparison is on the PTFE etched tube page.

Which item has the thinnest wall?

The coated PTFE etched tube, at 0.005 mm. Among finished tubes the PTFE multi-lumen catheter is thinnest at 0.01 mm, and standard PTFE extrusion tube starts at 0.02 mm.

Radiopaque tube — PTFE or FEP?

The filler and the temperature. The PTFE tube uses bismuth oxide and runs −40 to 260 °C; the FEP tube uses barium sulfate and runs −40 to 200 °C. PTFE also covers a wider bore, 0.80–6.50 mm against 2.20–6.00 mm. If downstream processing runs hot, take PTFE.

We are concerned about PFAS regulation. Is there an alternative?

We supply a UHMWPE liner as a PTFE replacement. It is not a fluoropolymer, so it sits outside the PFAS question. Its friction coefficient is higher than PTFE but it substitutes well in many applications. Tell us the application and we will assess it and reply.

Can you make sizes that are not in the table?

The ranges are production capability, not a fixed part list. Send inner diameter, wall thickness, length and operating environment, and we will reply with the combinations we can run. The FEP radiopaque sheath and EPTFE are made to order from the start.

Other items

Tell us your requirements
and we will narrow the item

Inner diameter, wall thickness, length and operating environment — those four settle the item. We reply with TDS, MSDS and MOQ.