Medical Device Link.

Originally Published EMDM January/February 2002

PRODUCT UPDATE

"Conventional ultrasound has been used in applications such as aerospace, materials science, and critical material inspections, but airborne ultrasound is new in packaging," says Toni Stauffer, president of Packaging Technologies and Inspection (PTI; Tuckahoe, NY, USA). The company recently began taking orders for the PTI-525, a noncontact ultrasound system used to inspect, characterize, and evaluate the integrity of heat seals on Tyvek, paper, plastic, and heat-sealed foil packaging. During a localized, linear scan, the package passes between a pair of ultrasonic transmitters and receivers. The level of attenuation of the ultrasonic waves along the seal perimeter gives an indication of the heat-seal integrity, identifying not just the presence of a defect, but also its size and location.

"The ultrasound in the C-scan mode provides a digital fingerprint of the heat seal, allowing you to determine if you are within process control parameters," Stauffer says. "Previously, the only way to characterize a heat seal was destructive testing." The nondestructive nature of the technology, he adds, makes it ideal for medical processes that need to be quatified, validated, and repeatable. The system can be used 100% on-line. For simple applications, Stauffer says speeds of several hundred subjects per minute are possible. The company also makes the PTI-225 and PTI-325, single- and dual-transducer vacuum differential leak-testing systems.

Copyright ©2002 European Medical Device Manufacturer