Guayule Blog » medical devices

Results of the International Latex conference are in…

Betsy — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:24:19 +0000

An attendee and participant in the 11th annual international latex conference recently gave me the update on what was discussed and the key messages from the conference. Here they are:

Manufacturers, medical institutions, shippers, and the end-user are all suffering from the rising costs and reduced availability of raw materials. Speculators have now found rubber so are having the same undesirable affect as they have had on petroleum.
An economist from the International Rubber Study Group indicated a serious but temporary shortfall in rubber and latex supplies will start in 2010. During this time, prices will rise even further.
On average, the EU and USA use approximately 100 gloves per person per year.
Attendees were excited about guayule latex and manufacturing gloves in the U.S.

Guayule scientist is chairperson at session for Future Medical Forum 2008

Betsy — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:09:19 +0000

This past Tuesday, the 24th, government, trade associations and medical industry vice presidents wrapped up discussions at the Future Medical Forum in Tampa, Florida. The forum explored today’s technologies and innovations and their impact on the future of the industry. Dr. Katrina Cornish, leading scientific expert and internationally recognized as a principal authority on guayule and guayule latex production, was invited to chair a round table discussion about new, innovative technologies for medical devices and the impact that new materials, like rubber from guayule, have on the discovery, development and design of devices.

Medical Product Manufacturing News article on new guayule balloons

Betsy — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:25:25 +0000

TechDevice Corp. has introduced minimally invasive medical balloons made out of guayule. Medical Product Manufacturing News calls this a BREAKTHROUGH because now balloon catheters with desirable characteristics such as tensile strength and durability are available without the hevea latex health risk. See the article here.