Suck it and see

Pennine Healthcare has used a range of Mitsubishi equipment to automate the sterile bagging of its range of Yankauers – suction devices used by surgeons to remove excess fluid from areas of the body during surgical procedures.

Pennine, based in Derby, makes an extensive range of single use medical devices, all manufacturing being undertaken in a medical quality clean room. With over 60 million individual products made a year, automation is vital as it helps avoid contamination through human intervention, maintains quality and consistency and contains costs.

A yankauer is essentially a rigid extruded PVC tube, with one end attached to a suction line. The free end is chamfered to avoid sharp edges, has a series of radial holes and is angled for ease of use. Further back along its length, the bore diameter is enlarged (through an air injection during extrusion) and a larger hole is provided to allow suction control during use. As well as surgeons, they are commonly used by dentists and vets.