X-Tech Medical Limited

The main challenge to this development was the bonding of the soft tip. Normal practise for single-use devices would be to solvent bond the tip to the distal end of the shaft. However using solvents could potentially result in the possibility that the tip could detach from the bougie when the endo-tracheal tube is inserted or removed from the patient. To ensure total integrity of this joint, Xograph designed an injection moulding tool suitable for insert moulding. Their in-house extrusion facilities produce the bougie shafts, which are then placed into the newly designed tooling. The injection mould process then forms and fuses the softer tip directly onto the end of the shaft – giving the new bougie the perfect union between two different materials and ensuring patient safety is maintained. Added advantages of the softer tip are that when passing through the tracheal, the flexible design gently brushes over the tracheal rings reducing the risk of penetration and internal bleeding.