Johnson Matthey, a medical device contract manufacturer based in West Chester, PA, has announced plans for expansion in response to an increased demand for its platinum and platinum-iridium electrodes and marker bands. The company's electrodes and markers are used in the electrophysiology (EP) catheters market, shocking electrodes for defibrillator leads and radiopaque markers for catheters.

In production, the company uses precious metals, such as platinum, which have a higher melting point and finer electrical conductivity, biocompatibility and resistance to corrosion. Because of these characteristics, platinum and alloys like it are more in demand for medical implants and applications such as electrodes.

"The medical device market is expected to grow an estimated 10 percent to over $300 billion in 2008 while the EP catheters market is growing at 16 percent compound annual growth rate," says Dave Vincent, Director, Business Development. Vincent reports Johnson Matthey has scaled up manufacturing of small diameter medical tubing and increased equipment capacity by 50 percent.
Johnson Matthey machines specialty metals and alloys to custom specifications. It has manufacturing facilities in Europe and the U.S. For more information, visit http://www.jmmedical.com

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