Applications/Diabetes

Silicone components and sealing solutions for diabetes devices.

We mold the critical-to-function silicone components inside insulin pumps, patch pumps, continuous glucose monitors, pens, and infusion sets. Same engineering team, same quality system, same floor, from a first article through sustained high-volume production.

ISO 13485:2016 · BSI FM 590598/ FDA-Registered/ ISO Class 8 Cleanroom Environment Molding/ Made in the USA/ 24/7 Operations
The Problem

The smallest part on the bill of materials
is the one that stops the line.

A diabetes device is worn on the body, filled with fluid, and expected to run without intervention for days at a time. The parts that make that possible are small, soft, and almost invisible on the drawing. A seal. A valve. A septum. An overmolded gasket a few millimeters across.

They are also the parts most likely to fail an audit, hold up a validation, or trigger a line-down call at two in the morning.

By the time a program reaches launch, the tolerance stack is locked, the enclosure is tooled, and the elastomer has to fit exactly what is already there. There is no room left to design around a supplier who cannot hold the dimension, cannot hold it lot after lot, or cannot hold it at scale.

That is the problem we were built for.

Why It's Hard

Five constraints that break
ordinary molders.

Fluid path integrity

Insulin delivery depends on seals and valves that do not leak, do not weep, and do not migrate over a multi-day wear period. Function is verified, not assumed.

Continuous wear

Components sit against skin and against fluid for the full life of the device. Compression set, rebound, and material stability over time matter as much as the dimension on day one.

Small, thin-walled geometry

Diabetes components are among the smallest we mold. Flash, gate vestige, and parting-line witness that would be cosmetic in another market become functional defects here.

Hybrid constructions

Silicone rarely arrives alone. It is overmolded onto plastic housings, molded around metal, and bonded to polyimide and film. The bond is as critical as the part.

Volume with zero drift

Diabetes programs do not ramp to thousands. They ramp to millions, and every one of them has to look like the first article.

All four failure classes, one device

Four of those five are the failure classes every critical-to-function elastomer faces: sealing and reseal, flow control, elastic response, and bonded interfaces. Diabetes is where all four show up on the same device, at the same time, at volume.

What We Mold

What we mold for diabetes programs.

We are not a catalog. Every component below is custom, tooled to your print, and validated to your requirements. This is a representative list, not a limit.

Seals and O-rings

For reservoirs, cartridges, housings, and fluid path interfaces.

Duckbill, umbrella, and check valves

For controlled one-way flow.

Septa and pierceable seals

For cannula insertion, needle penetration, and resealing.

Gaskets, diaphragms, and membranes

For pressure, venting, and environmental sealing.

Overmolded components

Bonded to plastics, metals, polyimide, film, fabric, and other silicones.

Grommets, dampers, and strain relief

For sensor bodies and wearable enclosures.

Molded sub-assemblies

Delivered ready to install, not ready to finish.

Conductive silicone components

For contact, grounding, and shielding applications.

If the component is elastomeric and it is critical to function, bring us the print.

Do not see your component?

Tell us your application. We mold far more than fits on this page.

Request a quote
How We Build It

The four fundamentals.

Every part that comes off our floor is controlled by four things, and we take ownership of all four so you own none of them.

Machine

Late-model liquid injection molding presses, cold runner and hot runner tooling, fully automated work cells, and robot demolding for high-cavitation programs.

Molding & Materials

Mold

Full tooling stewardship: requirements, design authority, DFM, cavitation strategy, mold vendor selection and management, validation, and transfer. Cavitation is driven by your volume and your target price. You never deal with a toolmaker.

Engineering & Manufacturing

Material

The right elastomer for the wear profile, the fluid, and the bond, sourced across every major LSR supplier and compounded to spec where no catalog grade holds the requirement.

Molding & Materials

Process

Validated, documented, and inspected on the dimensions that actually matter to function.

Engineering & Manufacturing

From print to production.

The same four stages whether the run is ten thousand parts or ten million.

Design for
Manufacturability

1

We review geometry, parting lines, gate location, and tolerance stack before a mold is cut. Most of the cost and most of the risk in an elastomeric component is decided here.

What It Means
The risk is designed out before steel is cut.

Tooling

2

Multi-step tool development managed end to end and sized to the volume you are actually going to run, not the volume you launch at.

What It Means
You never manage a toolmaker.

Validation

3

FAI, MSA, DOE, IQ, OQ, PQ. Full material and product traceability from raw lot to shipped carton.

What It Means
You qualify once, on evidence.

Scale

4

Cleanroom environment molding, 24/7 operations, and the same validated process at ten thousand parts and at ten million.

What It Means
You never outgrow us.
Materials

The material is usually specified.
The supplier shouldn't limit it.

Most diabetes programs arrive with the material already specified. We work across every major liquid silicone supplier, so you are not forced into a compromise grade because of who we happen to buy from.

LSR (liquid silicone rubber)

Across the full durometer range.

HCR and gum silicone

Including custom compounds built to your physical property requirements.

Fluorosilicone

For aggressive fluid and chemical exposure.

Organic and synthetic rubber compounds

Selected to the application requirement.

Conductive grades

For electrically functional components.

Custom formulation

Where an off-the-shelf grade will not hold the requirement.

See all materials and molding processes
Proof

Consistency is the product.

Anyone can mold a good first article. Diabetes programs are won and lost on part number four hundred thousand and part number forty million.

ISO 13485:2016 certified and FDA registered

Quality management system integrated directly into our ERP.

QA lab inside the cleanroom

Not down the hall.

Automated non-contact vision metrology

Plus 3D stereo microscope inspection.

Since 1980

Molding elastomers.

Functional lot release

Leak, inflation, rebound, and response testing matched to what the part must do.

Complete traceability and 24/7 operations

Material and product traceability on every lot. Round-the-clock for large-scale and time-sensitive programs.

Beyond Molding

The less you have to hand off,
the faster you launch.

A molded part that still needs three vendors before it can go into your device is not finished. We take that work off your plate.

Precision slitting and die cutting

Molded stock converted to finished valves and components.

Sub-assembly, including bonded overmolds

Delivered as one validated sub-assembly.

Complex and automated inspection

Custom inspection solutions engineered per program.

Device packaging

Device packaging, done where the part is molded.

Sterilization coordination

Through a qualified partner.

Silicone extrusion

Tubing and rod, cut to size, extending the molded portfolio.

One supplier. One quality system. One set of documents to audit.

Supplier Transfer

Second sourcing
without a second headache.

Qualifying a new supplier on a launched diabetes program is one of the least appealing projects in a medical device engineer's year. Tooling has to move or be rebuilt. Validation has to be repeated. Someone has to own the risk.

It is also the moment that decides the next several years of the program, which is why it is worth doing once and doing it with a supplier built to carry the volume you are heading toward, not just the volume you are shipping today.

We do this regularly. Bring us the print, the history, and the failure mode you are trying to design out, and we will tell you honestly whether we can improve it, match it, or whether you are better off where you are.

Transfer an Existing Program
FAQ

Questions we get from diabetes programs.

Can IRP Medical mold silicone components for insulin pumps and CGMs?
Yes. We mold seals, valves, septa, gaskets, and overmolded components for insulin pumps, patch pumps, continuous glucose monitors, insulin pens, and infusion sets, from first article through high-volume production.
What materials do you use for diabetes device components?
Liquid silicone rubber, gum silicone, fluorosilicone, conductive grades, and organic and synthetic rubber compounds. We work across all major liquid silicone suppliers and compound to custom physical property requirements where no catalog grade holds.
Are your components molded in a cleanroom?
Yes. Molding, inspection, secondary operations, and packaging are performed in controlled cleanroom environments inside our ISO 13485:2016 certified facility.
What volumes can you support?
Programs run from first article through sustained high-volume production. High-cavitation cold runner tooling, automated work cells, and 24/7 operations support the upper end.
Can you overmold silicone onto plastic or metal?
Yes. We overmold onto plastics, metals, polyimide, film, fabric, and other silicones, and we mold thermoplastic components for silicone overmolding applications.
Do you handle secondary operations, or do we need another supplier?
We handle slitting, die cutting, sub-assembly, inspection, and device packaging in house, so components arrive ready to install.
Can you take over an existing program from another molder?
Yes. We regularly transfer launched programs, including tooling transfer, revalidation, and requalification.
What certifications do you hold?
ISO 13485:2016 certified and FDA registered. The certificate is available on our Quality page.
Next Step

Tell us what is failing,
and we will tell you if we can fix it.

Tell us the part, the volume, and the requirement.
You will get an answer from an engineer, not a form letter.

Starting a new program?

From clinical builds to commercial scale, engage our engineers at the print.

Start Your Program

Transferring a program or mold?

Revalidation is a given. We plan it around your inventory bank, so your line keeps running while we qualify.

Transfer Your Program
Typography preview
Preview only. Your pick follows you across the design pages.