REPORT SCOPE
INTRODUCTION
STUDY GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The objective of this study is to analyze current and future North American markets for medical plastics, excluding medical packaging.
REASONS FOR DOING STUDY
Plastics usage in the healthcare field encompasses several distinct markets-predominantly applications for medical devices and related products, and for packaging. Market research studies in the past have often combined these two applications, which does not benefit companies exclusively involved in either medical devices or in medical packaging.
This study will cover plastics usage in medical devices that have sustained average annual growth rates far in excess of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The aging of the U.S. population, continuing cost reduction pressures in the healthcare field, advances in polymer performance, introduction of new and often life-saving devices, and the ever-present environmental/disposable/nondisposable medical device triad warrant an in-depth study as we continue into this decade.
SCOPE AND FORMAT
This report will be somewhat different from previous BCC studies, which have focused on materials such as resins and elastomers. This report will treat only the medical device industry. All industry and market information will be updated, and more definitive and detailed market estimates will be provided.
The changing face of the medical device industry, new types of medical devices, legislative/regulatory and environmental issues, new products and technologies related to medical devices, sterilization techniques and impact on polymer selection, polymer usage in medical devices, the status of PVC, and medical plastics product lines and trade named products are some of the topics that are covered.
METHODOLOGY
An extensive review was undertaken of trade and technical literature on plastics use in medical devices. Following the collection and analysis of this data, unresolved issues were discussed with polymer producers, compounders and medical device manufacturers. The word "millions" is often abbreviated as "MM," and average growth rates are annually compounded. All tables not sourced from BCC, Inc. were extracted from a variety of trade literature sources.
ACRONYMS AND DEFINITIONS
The following is a list of plastic-related acronyms used in this report:
ABS Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene terpolymer
COPEs Copolyester elastomer
EAA Ethylene acrylic acid
EMA Ethylene methylacrylate
EVA Ethylene-vinyl-acetate
HDPE High-density polyethylene
HIPS High-impact polystyrene
LCP Liquid crystal polymers
LDPE Low-density polyethylene
LLDPE Linear low-density polyethylene
m- Metallocene
PBT Poly(butylene terephthalate)
PC Polycarbonate
PC/ABS Polycarbonate-ABS alloy/blend
PC/PET Polycarbonate-PET alloy/blend
PE Polyethylene
PEEK Polyetheretherketone
PEI Polyetherimides
PET Poly(ethylene terephthalate)
PP Polypropylene
PPO Poly(phenylene oxide)
PUR Polyurethanes
PVC Polyvinyl chloride
SAN Styrene acrylonitrile
SBC Styrene block copolymer
SPS Syndiotactic polystyrene
TPE Thermoplastic elastomer
TPO Thermoplastic olefin
TPU Thermoplastic urethane
TPV Thermoplastic vulcanizates
ULDPE Ultra low-density polyethylene
