Foster
Innovation Center
With over 36 years of industry leadership, Foster, LLC specializes in producing custom biomedical polymers, including radiopaque compounds, custom polymer blends, and colored polymers tailored for medical devices. At our Innovation Center in Putnam, CT, we bring ideas to life, transforming concepts into innovative, high-quality products.
Our state-of-the-art Innovation Center is the heart of our product development efforts, focusing on prototype development, proof of concept creation, and new product innovations. This cutting-edge facility is dedicated to developing and optimizing of new product innovations, color formulations, and small-scale samples for feasibility studies. We employ advanced formulation strategies, including Design of Experiments (DOE), to help our clients explore innovative solutions and refine their production processes.
- Material Handling:
Our facility is equipped to handle solid, liquid, and powder materials, with advanced fume and dust exhaust systems to ensure a safe and efficient working environment.
- Drying:
We use desiccant dryers and vacuum ovens to dry small-volume materials efficiently, ensuring precise moisture control during development.
- Twin Screw Extrusion Compounding:
Foster utilizes twin screw extrusion compounding technology to provide outstanding versatility and precision in material processing. This advanced technology ensures consistent material properties and high-quality end products. With precise feeders capable of handling solids, powders, and liquids, we can perform strand pelletization with both water and air cooling. Our facility is equipped with two dedicated extruders—18mm and 27mm—tailored for development work, enabling us to process between 10 lbs and 25 lbs for proof of concept, with quick turnaround times typically within 10 business days.
- Injection Molding:
Our injection molding capabilities play a key role in accelerating prototype development and testing material performance. We leverage this technology to create precise tensile bars, flexural bars, and Izod/Charpy specimens, enabling in-depth analysis of the mechanical properties of new materials. Additionally, we produce both standard and step chips for efficient color evaluation and approval, ensuring your products meet the highest standards.
- Tubing Line:
Foster’s tubing line is essential for developing new materials and evaluating their performance in real-world production settings. We use this equipment to simulate production environments, ensuring materials function as intended during manufacturing processes. Additionally, we offer limited monolayer tubing capabilities to support prototype development and proof of concept creation.
- Harland Friction Tester:
Our Harland FTS7000 Friction Tester is designed to measure the lubricity of medical devices such as tubes, catheters, guide wires, and introducers. This device offers precise surface friction measurements by testing a sample between silicone or PTFE pads under controlled forces, providing accurate and reliable data crucial for material development.
To know more please contact:
Gowri Dorairaju –Technology Development Manager
Cell Phone:(860) 630-4492
Email: [email protected]