Hypodermic Tubing
Hypodermic tubing is commonly used as the medium
for introducing medicine or drugs under skin. This medical tubing is usually
formed into hypodermic needles. It is a slender, hollow, cylindrical length
of stainless steel, a puncturing point made at one end to form a needle. In addition to needle applications, hypodermic tubing is also utilized for
spacers, hypodermic guide wires, cannulas and hypodermic capillary tubing in
the medical, mechanical, electronic, chemical and aeronautical industries.
Hypodermic tubing comes in thin, regular and heavy wall varieties. Hypodermic
tubing may be offered in 6", 12", 24" or 36" lengths.
Hypodermic tubing is differentiated from other types of tubing by its own set
of gauge sizes. For example, fractional tubing is measured by outside diameter
and wall thickness, using common fraction sizes like 1/4" outside
diameter combined with a .035" wall thickness. However, hypodermic tubing,
or needle tubing, is categorized by gauges, which are determined by the outside
diameter and the inside diameter of the tube.
Hypodermic tubing can range from .005" to .259" outside diameter
and .002" to .239" inside diameter. Hypodermic tubing gauges are
generally found numbered between 3 and 35, the smaller the number, the larger
the diameters. Hypodermic tubing gauges are rooted in the Birmingham Gage,
which is otherwise known as Stub's Iron Wire Gage and also measures the
thicknesses of pipes. Hypodermic tubing manufacturers should have gauge size
charts available to assist in deciding which type of hypodermic tubing is needed
for a specific application.