Freudenberg technology for better medical services in India
New Delhi, Jan 13, 2015: Noise, air and water pollution – India faces a large number of factors that are detrimental to health. The good news is that more and more people can afford high-quality medical services as the middle classes in India are growing. Private investors are forging ahead with the expansion and modernization of the health system. A large number of private clinics and highly-qualified physicians are working to the highest international standards. As a result, demand for medical technology is growing. The internationally active Freudenberg Group offers a wide range of products for this sector – from precision moldings and tubes for implants and catheters from the Helix Medical Business Group via nonwovens for stoma bags and lung sensor belts to filter systems that ensure sterile clean room air quality in operating theatres.
Analysts from Frost and Sullivan expect the Indian medical technology market to grow dramatically from the current figure of about US$4.1 billion to around US$9.5 billion by 2017. Key factors in this development are the size of the population, catch-up effects, growing incomes, increased incidence of lifestyle diseases and a growing number of old people. By 2025, more than 200 million people in India will be over 60. In addition, there has been a rise in medical tourism – both Indians living abroad and patients from industrialized nations who cannot afford treatment in their home country are coming to India for treatment.
Very high precision in a very small space
The Indian health system especially needs diagnostic and monitoring equipment such as ultrasound and x-ray units, implants, catheters and consumables. According to estimates of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, about 80% of the equipment and material required is imported. Freudenberg’s Helix Medical Business Group supplies silicone precision tubes to India. For example, these are required for cataract operations. Microscopically small moldings are needed both for inserting the artificial lens and for flushing and removing secretions. In order to meet the highest possible hygiene standards, Helix products are manufactured in clean rooms and sterilized in accordance with customer requirements.
Clean room filters from Pune
The filter systems required are supplied in India by Freudenberg Filtration Technologies. At its plant in Pune, the company produces multi-stage air filter systems which provide protection not only against dust particles but also against bacteria and viruses. The principle is simple and effective. Filter stages that are adapted to each other remove particles ranging from coarse to very fine. In a final stage, suspended material filters, highly efficient in arresting fine particles, and made from fiber-glass paper, are used. An important use case for these filter systems are hospitals. Freudenberg filters play a valuable role in preventing wound infections in operating theaters and in keeping instruments germ-free. Highly-efficient filters are also used in isolation rooms to reduce the risk of infection.
Giving the patient a good feeling
Since 2014, an Indian company has purchased a nonwoven material from Freudenberg for use as a coating for stoma bags needed by patients with colostomies and urinary stomas (artificial openings). The material is very soft, is gentle to the skin and can be worn directly on the patient’s body. In addition, the nonwoven is completely silent in its application, which means that people can wear their stoma bags largely unnoticed.
Medical technology has played a special role within the Freudenberg Group since 1957. Innovations such as biodegradable wound dressings, systems for the real-time monitoring of lung function and micro-implants make life easier for patients and physicians throughout the world.CCI Newswire
