Henkel will bring together companies and technicians from the biomedical district to demonstrate the role of bonding, dosing, and polymerization in MedTech processes.

An adhesive, in a medical device, is not just the material that holds two components together. It can become a design variable that affects the assembly precision, on production speed, on material compatibility, on resistance to sterilization processes and on the repeatability of thousands of pieces. It is on this little visible part of healthcare manufacturing that Henkel Adhesive Technologies will focus the next meeting with the companies of the biomedical district of Mirandola, expected on October 22, 2026 at Palazzo Vischi, headquarters of the Cassa di Risparmio Foundation.

The meeting was born around the solutions LOCTITE developed for the assembly of medical devices and brings together two dimensions that are increasingly less separable in production: the adhesive chemistry and how it is dosed, cured, and controlled on the line. Henkel's technical documentation combines adhesives with dosing systems, LED sources, and equipment designed to be integrated into manual, semi-automatic, or automated processes. In the medical industry, where small geometries, different materials, and quality requirements often coexist in the same product, the choice of joining material therefore becomes a process decision.

The comparison with local companies will concern applications ranging from disposable devices to reusable instruments, from equipment that supports vital functions to durable and diagnostic systems. These are very different families, but they share the need to manage variables such as adhesive quantity, setting times, deposit position, substrate compatibility, and joint behavior after sterilization. The LOCTITE range includes over 40 products intended for medical assemblies subjected to biocompatibility testing according to Henkel protocols, as well as hundreds of products for applications that do not require this characterization.

From biocompatibility to sterilization, the joint must be designed

The first constraint is obvious: an adhesive intended for use in the construction of a medical device cannot be evaluated solely by the strength with which it bonds two surfaces. Henkel recommends that medical adhesives be tested according to its own protocols based on industry standards. biocompatibility ISO 10993The tests listed include intracutaneous toxicity, systemic toxicity, muscle implantation, cytotoxicity, and hemolysis. The documentation also specifies that these products are not intended for invasive implants or prostheses.

This distinction is also important from an industrial perspective. Material characterization does not automatically mean the entire device is compliant: component geometry, adhesive quantity, exposed surface area, operating conditions, and the manufacturing process remain part of the final assessment. For the manufacturer, the advantage of starting with materials that have already undergone defined protocols is therefore to reduce some of the uncertainty upfront, not to eliminate the need to validate the finished product.

The same applies to the sterilizationSingle-use and reusable devices may be initially subjected to ethylene oxide, gamma radiation, or electron beam curing; reusable devices may then undergo further treatment in hospitals and clinics using autoclaves, chemical immersions, or hydrogen peroxide plasma. Henkel claims that most of its fully cured medical adhesives maintain their bonding performance after exposure to typical sterilization times and methods, but recommends always testing their behavior on actual components and in the final application.

Here emerges one of the most concrete problems of MedTech design: the material that offers the best initial adhesion is not necessarily the most suitable after a thermal, chemical or radiative cycle. joint stability It must therefore be considered along with compatibility with the substrate and the process by which the component will be sterilized. In other words, bonding doesn't end at the end of the project: it can affect it from the very early stages.

Dosing and LED light transform the adhesive into a controlled process

The second component of the approach concerns automation. Henkel combines chemicals with a range of dosing systems, polymerization equipment, and monitoring instruments designed to work with adhesives used in medical devices. The rationale is to consider the material and equipment as part of the same industrial process, because changing the deposition method can affect accuracy, consumption, repeatability, and productivity even when the adhesive remains the same.

A dosing system must in fact be chosen according to the polymerization mechanism, package size, viscosity, part geometry, and production rate. Added to these factors are the size of the deposit and the precision with which it must be repeated. In automated processes, the advantage lies not simply in replacing an operator: it lies above all in making a quantity controllable, which, in small components, can be extremely small.

La photopolymerization adds another lever. Adhesives formulated for this process harden when exposed to a suitable light source; LED lamps allow for controlled exposure time and integration of polymerization into the production sequence. Henkel also points to these sources as having reduced energy consumption and heat generation, along with the potential to accelerate the process. Dispensing equipment also helps reduce waste and the use of larger packaging, reducing the number of containers used.

In the medical field this ability to dose and polymerize in a repeatable manner takes on a particular importance. Needles, catheters, fluid collection and management systems, and other single-use devices often combine heterogeneous materials and tiny components. LOCTITE documentation identifies biocompatibility, high-speed production, assembly precision, and sterilization resistance among the key requirements, associating light-cured adhesives, cyanoacrylates, and epoxies for the various applications.

Technologies are not interchangeable. The light-curing acrylics They can offer speed and a wide range of viscosities; cyanoacrylates are designed for rapid bonding and adhesion to a variety of substrates; silicones and epoxies meet different requirements for flexibility, temperature, mechanical resistance, chemical resistance, and gap filling. For the designer, therefore, the question is not which is the "best adhesive," but which combination of chemistry, geometry, substrate, process, and operating conditions produces the desired behavior.

The Quanta System case measures the effect of automation on waste

An industrial example reported by Henkel concerns How much System, a company producing laser technologies for surgery, dermatology, and aesthetic medicine. The application concerns the so-called blast shieldReplacement components for surgical laser machines: an aluminum frame is attached to an inspection lens using three mounting points. The high unit cost of the part makes any assembly errors particularly costly.

The solution described uses LOCTITE 3494, a UV adhesive intended for the coupling of optical and metallic elements, together with an automated Cartesian system three axesA valve distributes the product to the three designated points, while a UV LED torch monitors its polymerization. The interest of this case lies not only in the replacement of an adhesive, but in the integration of material, deposition path, and light source.

Quanta System reports among the results a greater efficiency and effectiveness of the production process, a faster application of the adhesive, an improvement in the quality of the finished product and thezero waste in the application under consideration. A benefit is also highlighted, reported by operators who previously complained about the time and high repetitiveness of gluing operations. These results are specific to a specific process and not automatically transferable to other production lines, but they clearly illustrate the industrial point: gluing automation can simultaneously impact quality, defect costs, and job ergonomics.

The same relationship between adhesive and equipment appears in another case described in the LOCTITE documentation, dedicated to fistula needlesA manufacturer was experiencing challenges with process repeatability and tensile strength; adopting an LED-cured acrylic adhesive, combined with dispensing equipment, is associated with increased accuracy, reduced waste, and improved quality control.

La adhesive fluorescence This is a significant technical detail because it allows for easier verification of the presence and distribution of material during the process. In a high-speed line, making visible what is normally difficult to distinguish can become an in-process control tool, making it easier to identify missing or irregular deposits before the component proceeds to subsequent stages.

On October 22nd the comparison will start from the factory, not only from the product

This is the ground on which the LOCTITE MedTech Day October 22nd. The choice of Mirandola is no coincidence: the area is home to a concentration of companies producing components, disposable devices, reusable systems, and equipment for various healthcare applications. Henkel intends to engage its specialists with technicians in the district specifically on assembly issues that vary from product to product and are difficult to resolve with a single standard formulation.

The company documentation indicates furthermore 50 years of experience in the medical sector through divisions that work with both large medical diagnostic equipment and human-contact devices, as well as with manufacturers of disposables, reusable instruments, and durable aids. The portfolio presented for the sector includes more than 40 medical device stickers and over five technologies, to which is added assembly automation.

For Mauro Stien, Business Development Manager Medical Industry at Henkel Adhesive Technologies, accompanied in Emilia Romagna and Lombardy da Laura Carbone, Head of Marketing Southern Europe, the evolution concerns above all the ability to accompany increasingly smaller and more complex devices with dosing and polymerization systems consistent with production and regulation requirements:

"Having collaborated for decades with leading players in the medical industry, LOCTITE has established one of the most diverse and comprehensive offerings of adhesives, dispensing systems, and LED curing systems on the market today. Our technologies are 'Bonded. For Life,' designed to build strong and reliable bonds across a variety of applications, helping manufacturers develop increasingly smaller and more advanced devices, increase operational efficiency, and better meet the regulatory and performance requirements of the healthcare industry, while also ensuring patient well-being."

And yet:

“It gives us great satisfaction to be in Mirandola, in the heart of the most important biomedical district in Europe and among the world's leading ones, to present the latest LOCTITE innovations and strengthen our ties with a key area for the entire sector.”

The crucial step, beyond the commercial formulation, is integration itself. A biomedical manufacturer must not only obtain a resistant joint: it must be able to do so. repeat thousands of times, verify it, document it, submit it to subsequent processes, and monitor variations. As components, materials, and geometries become smaller, even too much or too little adhesive can become a quality issue.

Henkel also brings a broader industrial structure to the comparison. 2025 the group recorded a total turnover of approximately 20,5 billion euros and an operating result of approximately 3 billion eurosThere are six locations in Italy, including factories, application centers, and headquarters; Adhesive Technologies operates in particular through the Casarile production site and innovation center, the Zingonia production site, and the Caleppio di Settala and Oggiono application centers.

The industrial value of the Mirandola meeting will therefore be measured less on the presentation of a single new product and more on the ability to show how chemistry, automation and process control can be designed together. In the biomedical industry, where the cost of an error can far exceed that of the material used, the point is not to glue faster overall, but to achieve the same result, under the expected conditions, piece after piece.

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