Cooling Lubricants for
the Medical Technology Industry

In addition, German manufacturers score with high export quota. They sell their products to Eastern Europe and the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) where demand will grow significantly in the next years.

Fuchs has developed high performance prouducts capable of convincing even the most demanding customer. “Medical technology is a future-oriented industry”, says Freiler, “and Fuchs cooling lubricants are optimally suited for this market”.

The technical specifications for cooling lubricants, however, are extremely demanding in medical technology. The industry predominantly uses titanium and cobalt alloys with most stringent requirements for eco-compatibility and corrosion resistance. Such materials, titanium in particular, pose extreme challenges for the machining process, pushing not only cutting tools but also cooling lubricants to their limits. This is extremely hard for the cooling lubricants, too.

Experience from the Aerospace industry

“FUCHS has gained valuable experience in titanium machining in the aerospace industry – a benefit when developing cooling lubricants for medical technology”, says Freiler. “But for the medical technology industry, we also needed to optimize the cytotoxicological properties of our cooling lubricants”.

Implant manufacturers in particular must make sure that their products are sterile and free of any media before they are used on a human body. Manufacturers design their products accordingly, run tests on the work piece to ensure that they meet the specifications. “We even go a step beyond”, says the cooling lubricant expert. “We add the cooling lubricant to a nutrition solution and test it for potential effects on cell growth in accordance with EN ISO 10993-5.” Tests for cytotoxicity are a genuine feature of Fuchs products. In this demanding business segment with restricted personal resources they facilitate the mandatory validation procedures.

Results of cytotoxicological tests performed on the quickly bio-degradable Plantocut 10 SR, which is based on synthetic ester oils from regenerative raw materials, yielded excellent tolerance by the skin according to the BUS test. But this is not the only benefit: “Thanks to the improved lubrication effect, reduced friction and ultimately reduced heat generation, Plantocut allows to safely and reliably machine materials without having to use high pressure processes“.

The new Ecocool TN 2525 BFH, which is also suitable for high-pressure processing up to 200 bar, has been developed especially for materials with high strength and tenacity such a titanium. Free of boron and biocides, the cooling lubricant is both environmentally compatible and skin- tolerant. Free of boron and biocides and with ingredients registered according to REACH, TSCA and other globally applicable chemicals registers, the product is suitable for applications worldwide”, Freiler describes an important benefit of the product.

Cooling Lubricants for Ceramic Processing

“For the processing of their ceramics our customers can also rely on suitable products from our portfolio”, says the Product Manager and she also focuses on magnesium alloys – a material of the future. “Applications of these materials in medical engineering are still few and far apart but our portfolio already offers cooling lubricants suitable for machining magnesium alloys”.

At the end of the manufacturing process the cleaning of implants and surgical instruments is of utmost importance. “Fuchs offers special cleaning agents for the optimum intermediate cleaning process. Possible cross-contamination of cooling lubricants and hydraulic fluids can cause premature saturation of the cleaning agent”, explains Freiler. “We can offer an excellent solution to this problem: the “unifluid concept”.

The brand new product portfolio is now ready to be launched. The first feedback from potential customers is very promising. “I am convinced that our new products will allow us to conquer interesting markets even abroad”, says the cooling lubricant specialist. The perspectives to market these products are great. “The automotive industry and their suppliers are increasingly using high-strength and heat-resistant materials”, says Freiler. “The trend clearly goes towards lightweight design and downsizing”.