Why Is PET Heat Shrink Tubing Entering the Spotlight in the Medical Industry?

Why Is PET Heat Shrink Tubing Entering the Spotlight in the Medical Industry?

A heat shrink material that delivers high strength, wear resistance, and dimensional stability

You might not have noticed, but PET heat shrink tubing is increasingly appearing in familiar places such as catheter reinforcement layers, insulation protection components, and even in the assembly processes of medical devices.

So why is this seemingly ordinary engineering plastic heat shrink tubing gaining more and more attention in medical manufacturing?

What Is PET Heat Shrink Tubing?

PET, short for Polyethylene Terephthalate, is a thermoplastic polyester. Compared with commonly used fluoropolymer heat shrink materials (such as FEP or PTFE), PET offers higher mechanical strength and dimensional stability, making it particularly advantageous in thin-wall forming and high-precision structural support.

Four Core Advantages of PET Heat Shrink Tubing

① Thin-Wall Control
PET can achieve extremely thin wall thickness designs while maintaining structural support strength, without significantly increasing the outer diameter of the catheter.

② High Electrical Insulation
With a low dielectric constant and high dielectric strength, PET provides reliable electrical insulation protection. It is widely applied in energy-delivery catheters, electrical components, and high-voltage insulation, ensuring safety and reliability.

③ High Mechanical Strength & Wear Resistance
PET’s tensile strength and hardness surpass most heat shrink materials, providing additional reinforcement and abrasion resistance. This makes it especially suitable for applications requiring enhanced structural durability.

④ High Transparency
Even at thin-wall thickness, PET maintains excellent transparency, enabling visual alignment and inspection during catheter manufacturing and ensuring precision in multilayer assembly.

Application Scenarios of PET Heat Shrink Tubing

• Protection of critical components

• Welding, fusing, and bonding of medical catheters

• Insulation protection for active medical devices

• As the outer layer of devices, such as push rods, or covering spring/ braid terminations to prevent wire fraying

• Transparent covering for catheters and needles (to prevent scratches and allow visual inspection)

• Anti-slip covering for surgical instruments

PET Heat Shrink Tubing 1.3:1

If you would like to request PET heat shrink tubing samples, technical support, or customized process solutions, feel free to contact the ECO Team—we have accumulated extensive experience in PET heat shrink tubing applications.

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