Medical packaging performs many important functions, but its primary role is to protect medical or pharmaceutical products. Because medical products can offer unique specifications and often require sterilization before packaging, medical packaging is designed to maintain the highest medical standards and protect product integrity. As a result of the wide array of medical components, medical packaging ranges from prefabricated packages to customized packages for special parts. Variations in size, dimensions, hardness, breathability, and infertility make it possible to transport even the most delicate medical components in a properly engineered package.
Emerging Pharmaceutical Packaging Industry Trends
Pharmaceutical packaging is already a very modern market, but there are some things that the industry is working on to modernize itself for the benefit of both producers and buyers. These include making more packaging:
- Accessible to patients
- Eco-friendly
- Easy to produce
- Access
While all packaging aims to be simple and user-friendly, pharma packaging is probably the definition of this essential.
Medical ingredients are usually packaged in one of several structural configurations. Here are some common types of medical packages.
- Blister packaging
- Individual wrapping packages
- Multi-compartmental trays
- Water-soluble packaging
- Pouches
- Cartons
In terms of both price and volume, the polyethylene segment will lead the market for medical packaging films.
Traditionally polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and bi-axis oriented polyamide, BOPA(nylon) films have been widely used in the cold formed pharma packaging industry. A typical Alu-Alu blister laminate consists of three layers: 25-micron BOPA / 60-micron soft aluminium foil / 60-micron PVC.
This form of packaging has many advantages, such as ensuring product integrity and enabling long shelf life. This is important for consumers, as most people store their medicines in different temperatures and environmental conditions that can damage product quality. Despite increasing pressure to develop more drugs to meet industry demand, pharmaceutical products must continue to meet high hygiene and safety standards to maintain the strength of the active ingredients. Changes in these factors can have serious consequences for consumers in terms of their health, and damage the manufacturer’s reputation.
Disposal of BOPA(nylon) films and PVC films in the cold-formed Alu-Alu Laminate Blister Pack for Pharmaceuticals has long been a difficult task for packaging specialists.
Tips On The Use Of BOPA (Nylon) Film:
- BOPA (Nylon) is easily hygroscopic, after hygroscopic its barrier properties will be significantly reduced. If we ignore the effect of moisture, serious quality accidents will occur.
- Due to the hygroscopicity of the film, a thin net of water beads on the surface forms a layer of film, which prevents the ink from sticking, and causes quality problems such as small bubbles or white spots.
- Hygroscopicity BOPA material defects will cause printing wrinkles, incorrect registers, misalignment of bags, warping, crimping, composite film bubbles, easy spots, crystal spots, and white spots. Increased odor, membrane surface adhesion, coding difficulties, etc.
In severe cases, the overall strength of the peel is reduced, or there is ink or adhesive transfer. Delamination occurs when the coding speed decreases or the coding process cannot kill the tendency of the high-temperature cooking bag, hardness in the composite film hand, increase in breaking tendency, etc. This seriously hampers the production process and product quality.
What Should Be the Material Properties Of Medical Packaging Film?
- It should maintain the physical properties of all products.
- It should be protected from all damages and losses.
- It must have product identification.
- It should retain the specificity of this particular product.
This should prevent the product from deteriorating its physical, biological, and chemical properties.
Criteria For Packaging Material Selection:
- Moisture barrier
- Light barrier
- Gas barrier, and Chemical barrier
BOPA Film (Nylon film) for Pharmaceutical/Medical Packaging:
The importance of nylon films in the packaging industry is based on their high mechanical strength, excellent thermoforming properties, heat resistance, antiseptic ability, and excellent barrier properties against gases, especially oxygen and flavours. The film avoids pinholes, impact, and heat, as well as is resistant to colds, medicines, and oils. This makes it a popular choice for packaging in a variety of foods, medicines, and chemicals. Nylon films can research corona treatment from one or both sides, but the thickness is limited to the standard set of 10, 15, 25, or 30mic. It is hard but soft and is especially effective as a seal against various gases such as oxygen.
Special Features About Nylon film:
- Non-toxic; Pollution-free; High transparency and gloss; Less static; Wear resistance; Longevity of Corona; few defects and good tearing off. This film is mainly used for printing, bag making, adhesive tape making, and other base materials.
- The strong powder is absorbed and can release blisters and film. Concaved or stretched matte lamination film is suitable for film laminating, hot stamping, screen printing, and partial UV glazing after the frosted process.
- This film is easy to operate after meeting the hot roller temperature requirements, film laminating can be done at any time, and no professionalism is required.
- Compared to other packaging films, these films are used in the pharmaceutical market because of their high mechanical strength, chemical resistance, high transparency, and excellent gas barrier properties.
Requirements For Medical Packaging:
Medical packaging requirements are very different from food packaging. Traditionally, metals, glass, and ceramics have been used for medical implants, instruments, and aids. However, polymers are more suitable for these applications because they offer lighter weight, better bio-compatibility, and lower cost. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS) as well as nylon, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyamide (PA) in fibers and resins used in medical applications, Polycarbonate (PC), acrylonitrile butadiene (ABS), polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and polyurethane (PU).
High-layer medical films may have a PE-tie-nylon-tie-PE-tie-nylon-tie-PE structure, or the same structure may be a substitute for PP for nylon. It can be 2 to 16 mils thick. Most are 6 to 9 mils. In these films, nylon is used only to strengthen the puncture.
BOPA (Nylon film) is an ideal packaging material for laminating with other materials such as PP PE PET CPP etc. Final composition films are widely used in pharmaceutical fields.
BOPA (Nylon Film) has the best printability and processability. The pharmaceutical industry, due to its lightweight, flexibility, and durability, rapidly moved towards flexible packaging solutions.
Nylon film manufacturers are seeing a lot of growth in coextruded films. Nylon Films that use thin individual and separate layers allow for more efficient use of expensive high-performance polymers. Many other packaging industries plan to join medical packaging because of its high margins.
In short, standard packaging films are definitely needed where it is used in various fields, they can be used in food packaging or medicine packaging, and great care is taken in this process. BOPA (nylon) film is also widely used in medical, pharmaceutical equipment, cosmetics, and machinery packaging fields.