Tray Design
Sabre Medical specialises in custom packaging solutions for both sterile and non-sterile medical products.
Design Process
Our design process begins with an initial consultation, where we encourage you to share all the key details of your product and the requirements for your packaging. Based on this consultation, the design team will generate an initial concept, which is then refined based on your feedback. Once the concept is sufficiently evolved, physical prototypes can be fabricated, permitting inspection and evaluation. Acceptance of the blueprints can then proceed to mass production.
Features
Sealable trays typically consist of a pre-formed plastic shape that creates an internal volume, and a flat perimeter rim designed to have a lid heat-sealed onto it.
The internal volume of the trays is usually formed with specific geometry to hold the contents in place, as well as to allow for easy removal from the tray at the point of use. Retainers or inserts can be used to improve the holding strength, or to help support delicate components.
Materials
PETG plastic is the favoured material for medical-grade packaging, and is available in a range of thicknesses, quality grades, and colours. Sabre Medical will make a recommendation based on the characteristics of the packaged goods.
Alternative materials such as Polypropylene or Polycarbonate are also available, should there be specific requirements.
Sterile Barrier System
Once lids are sealed onto the tray, they form a sterile barrier around the internal volume and the device inside, as defined by ISO 11607. To achieve a double sterile barrier, a sealed inner tray is then in turn sealed inside a larger outer tray.
Sterilisation Compatibility
Lids are typically made from Tyvek 1073B, aluminium foil, or PET film, largely depending on the type of sterilisation process to be used on the device. Tyvek 1073B lids are most commonly used with Ethylene Oxide sterilisation processes, as they are permeable enough to allow the EO gas in and out of the tray. PET or foil lids are impermeable, and usually used in conjunction with gamma sterilisation.
Validation
Validatable rigid tray sealing machines such as the Medipacker TS 3535, or the larger TS 5035, are used to precisely control the temperature, pressure, and time variables during the tray-sealing process. This tight control allows for repeatability, and package validity can be confirmed by strength and integrity testing.
