TE Connectivity Shifts Catheter Manufacturing to Automated 3D Printing

TE Connectivity has brought an automated 3D printing process into production for catheter shafts, replacing the manual polymer jacketing step that has slowed the medical device industry for decades.

The system was developed at the company's PROPELUS Prototype Center in Galway, Ireland. Catheter shafts need different stiffness levels along their length so doctors can push the device through blood vessels while keeping the tip flexible enough to navigate safely. Traditional manufacturing builds these gradients by hand, fitting pre-made polymer tubes of varying durometer over a central shaft. It is accurate but slow, and the interface between layers can create weak spots.

TE's new approach deposits the polymer directly onto the shaft during production. The result matches conventional catheters on mechanical properties, materials, and finish, but the company says the automated route is faster and more consistent. Design changes also turn around quicker, which means a customer can request a different stiffness profile and receive a testable shaft without waiting for a manual rebuild.

Bernard McDermott, Medical Engineering Fellow at TE Connectivity, says the process could reshape how catheters are manufactured. The company believes additive manufacturing will open catheter geometries that are impractical to build by hand, though no specific designs have been disclosed yet.

The Galway facility is one of four TE medical manufacturing sites. A process proven in Ireland still has to scale through Costa Rica, Minnesota, and China before the cost and supply-chain benefits appear at full volume. For now, the shift from manual to automated jacketing is a production upgrade, not a revolution. But if the promised design freedom materializes, it could change catheter architecture in ways the industry has not seen.