Junkosha has announced a new catheter-liner category, called Wrapped Liner, at MD&M Midwest in Minneapolis. The company says the category represents a different approach to liner construction and draws on its experience in fluoropolymer technologies.
The platform uses Junkosha’s proprietary PTFE tape engineering and wrapping technology. Rather than extruding a complete tube, the process wraps PTFE film around a mandrel to build the liner wall. By engineering the tape’s properties, the company says it can create a liner platform designed to achieve a thin, uniform wall thickness with high strength. Junkosha positions the result as an alternative for catheter liners that combines high tensile strength, thin-wall construction and flexibility.
What the construction changes for designers
According to Junkosha, the combination gives catheter designers and manufacturers more freedom to specify finer braid or coil wire, or to reallocate space elsewhere in the catheter. The company describes the balance between thin walls and strength as central to new catheter development because it could allow greater flexibility in how reinforcement is configured. Junkosha also frames Wrapped Liner as a scalable platform intended to support a growing portfolio of liner solutions for changing catheter requirements.
Steve Maxson, founder of Maxson InSight Services, said catheter engineers often describe profile as king, but low-profile design involves more than reducing wall thickness. A catheter still must resist kinking and ovalization while retaining the flexibility its application requires, he said. Noting that extruded and film-cast liners are already available with very thin walls, Maxson said the opportunity is in how thin-wall construction and strength work together to change how engineers approach catheter design.
An alternative to current liner routes
Kevin LaDow, chief sales officer of Junkosha USA, said current catheter liners are either dip-coated PTFE built up on a mandrel or extruded PTFE supplied as cut-to-length tubing. He said that as the industry heads into 2027, there is a need for a new liner category that is not only manufactured differently but also offers distinct benefits for small-format catheter OEMs.
Through the Wrapped Liner approach, Junkosha says it aims to extend catheter-design possibilities and support next-generation devices intended to enhance flexibility and broaden the range of anatomies that can be accessed and treated.