Junkosha used MD&M Midwest in Minneapolis to introduce a new catheter liner category it calls Wrapped Liner. The company says the platform applies its fluoropolymer and PTFE tape expertise to a construction method that differs from conventional liner manufacturing.
Instead of extruding a complete tube, the process wraps PTFE film around a mandrel to build the liner wall. Junkosha says engineering the tape properties allows it to aim for a thin, uniform wall that still provides high tensile strength, and to combine that with flexibility. The company presents the category as an alternative platform for catheter liners rather than a single product.
For catheter designers, the claimed benefit is space. A thinner liner wall can leave more room for reinforcement or allow a finer braid or coil wire, the company says. That extra room could also be reallocated elsewhere in the catheter construction. Junkosha frames these choices as design freedom for OEMs working on small-format catheters.
Profile versus performance
Steve Maxson, founder of Maxson InSight Services, said catheter engineers often describe profile as king, but that low profile involves more than reducing wall thickness. He said a catheter still needs to resist kinking and ovalization while retaining the flexibility its application requires. With very thin extruded and film-cast liners already available, he said the opportunity lies in how thin-wall construction and strength work together to change design approaches.
That balance is central to Junkosha's positioning. The company says the Wrapped Liner category is intended to be scalable, supporting a growing portfolio of liner solutions as catheter requirements evolve. It is also presenting the category as a way to reconfigure reinforcement, rather than only as a route to a lower profile.
An alternative to established liner routes
Kevin LaDow, chief sales officer of Junkosha USA Inc., described current catheter liners as either dip-coated PTFE built up on a mandrel or extruded PTFE supplied as cut-to-length tubing. He said that as the industry heads into 2027, there is a need for a new liner category that is manufactured differently and offers particular benefits for small-format catheter OEMs.
LaDow said the approach extends the possibilities of catheter design, supporting development of next-generation devices intended to improve flexibility and reach a broader range of anatomies. The company is positioning these as intended design possibilities rather than demonstrated clinical outcomes.
The launch at MD&M Midwest places the Wrapped Liner concept in front of catheter engineers and manufacturers as a platform for evaluation. Junkosha's message is that the liner should be treated as a design variable: a wrapped PTFE wall that may change how reinforcement, profile and flexibility are balanced in future catheter shafts.