What are single-use tubing assemblies?
Single-use tubing assemblies are disposable components within pharmaceutical fluid paths, therefore essential for biotech companies and various fields in life sciences that rely on single-use systems in fluid transfer.
Unlike multi-use tubing assemblies, which are often made of stainless steel or glass, single-use tubing assemblies are made of disposable materials – the case for TPE tubings (thermoplastic elastomer tubings) or silicone tubing sets. High purity of these consumables is vital, which is why cGMP-compliant single-use assemblies for the biopharma industry have to pass stringent quality control and validation processes, including extractables profiling.1
To guarantee sterility of the single-use tubing assemblies, many manufacturers produce and package them in ISO class 7 cleanrooms. Additionally, they are usually pre-sterilized, e.g. via gamma irradiation, X-ray irradiation, or autoclave.
Being delivered to biopharma companies, single-use systems are ready to be integrated in various fluid management processes, connecting other elements, such as peristaltic pumps, bioreactors, centrifuges and filtration devices. And as they are designed for one specific application, both the need for laborious in-house cleaning and the risk of cross-contamination, such as with stainless-steel installations, can be reduced.
As the name already suggests, tubings are an integral yet not the only element of single-use tubing assemblies – read on to learn more about their remaining, equally essential components.1