ABSTRACT
Medical devices are an extremely broad category of pharmaceutical equipment
that requires a very broad range of packaging materials and processes. Medical
devices come in all sizes, ranging from the very large to the very small. They
span room-filling imaging devices for examination and diagnosis of diseases or
conditions within the body to small highly specialized implantable devices that
repair or replace malfunctioning parts of the body. Devices may cure diseases,
repair chronic conditions, or supplement and, in many cases, replace body parts
that can no longer manage a particular body function or are simply worn out.
Medical devices may be hybrids, combining a pharmaceutical drug product with
a delivery device to release a drug in a specific area of the body or the device
may be a radioactive implant designed to deliver a specific dose of radiation to
cancerous tissue.
