Digital Printing For Medical Device Packaging

Medical device companies often have numerous small SKUs for their medical packaging. Digital printing for medical device packages would allow more effective full-color graphic printing, the ability for color-coding, and brand colors without using spot colors. The sterility of medical device packaging is critical and is required to follow strict industry standards. Medical device packaging substrates are typically not applied with surface modification due to the sterile requirements. Therefore, medical grade Tyvek has different printability compared to graphic grade Tyvek.

This study investigated the current technological options of digital printing on medical grade Tyvek, including direct contact and indirect contact packaging. Currently, there is very limited information on color direct contact digital inks available. The existing water-based inkjet inks for direct contact applications are limited to black inks for marking, it does not allow for full-color graphics. UV inkjet inks are not intended for direct contact applications due to the safety concerns of using photo initiators.

Identifying the potential inks options for medical device packaging printing, analyzing the print quality of current inkjet technology on medical grade Tyvek, and making design recommendations are the main focuses of this study. The results showed that the UV ink has better legibility, sharp line edges, and less inter-color bleed on medical grade Tyvek. In comparison, the water-based inkjet inks had significant spreading on medical grade Tyvek, therefore, are limited to relatively larger fonts and heavier lines when designing for such substrates.

Best practices in designing for digital printing on medical-grade Tyvek, including smallest fonts and line width for legibility, based on the quality analysis of the printed samples, are suggested.

Digital printing has exciting potential in medical device packaging production, especially through inkjet printing technology. Collaborations between ink suppliers and printhead manufacturers can speed up the development of direct contact inkjet inks for the medical device packaging industry.