Junkosha used MD&M Midwest in Minneapolis to introduce a new category of catheter liner, which the company calls Wrapped Liner. According to Junkosha, the category sets out a different approach to liner construction and draws on its long experience with fluoropolymer technologies.
The company said it has applied its proprietary PTFE tape engineering and wrapping technology to create an alternative liner platform that combines high tensile strength, thin wall construction and flexibility.
Wrapping instead of extruding
In the Junkosha process, PTFE film is wrapped around a mandrel to build up the liner wall, rather than a complete tube being extruded. By engineering the properties of the tape, the company says it can design a liner platform aimed at a thin, uniform wall thickness while retaining strength.
That combination is presented as giving catheter designers and manufacturers more room to work with: they could specify finer braid or coil wire, or reallocate space elsewhere in the catheter construction.
Profile and strength together
Steve Maxson, founder of Maxson InSight Services, said catheter engineers often describe profile as king, but that a low-profile design involves more than trimming wall thickness. In his view, a catheter still has to resist kinking and ovalization while keeping the flexibility its application requires. With extruded and film-cast liners already available in very thin walls, he argued that the real opportunity lies in how thin-wall construction and strength work together to change the way engineers approach catheter design.
Junkosha frames that balance — thin, strong and more uniform — as the linchpin of new catheter development, potentially giving designers greater flexibility in how reinforcement is configured. The Wrapped Liner category is intended as a scalable platform supporting a growing portfolio of solutions tailored to evolving catheter requirements.
Why the company sees a gap
Kevin LaDow, chief sales officer of Junkosha USA Inc., described the current landscape as split between dip-coated PTFE built up on a mandrel and extruded PTFE supplied as tubing cut to length. Looking toward 2027, he said there is a need for a new liner category that is not only manufactured differently but also offers particular benefits for small-format catheter OEMs.
Through this approach, Junkosha says it aims to extend the possibilities of catheter design and to support development of next-generation devices intended to improve flexibility and broaden the range of anatomies that can be accessed and treated.
The announcement did not include wall-thickness figures, pricing or availability timelines for the Wrapped Liner platform.