In today's fast paced world, technological advances
In the industry the most common materials used in implantable and surgical devices are nickel alloys, cobalt chrome alloys, titanium, Nitinol, and stainless steel. Lasers are also used to process a broad range of materials from stainless steel to Nitinol (a shape-memory alloy), and titanium which are the most preferred polymers and alloys applied in high-volume fabrication of microfluidic devices and implantation in human body.
However, moving on to the methods of precision laser-cutting, there are plenty of methods available to cut the above mentioned metals including chemical machining, grinding, laser, water-jet, and EDM.
Medical Devices are Manufactured using Laser-Cutting Technology
Medical device laser processing has become a revolutionizing change in this modern technological world. Today, this non-traditional process is now surfacing as the most preferred choice for metal cutting or machining applications. It is highly preferred because of qualities such as tight dimensional tolerances, high volume production, and superior edge quality. Precision laser-cutting technology is ideal for meeting the specific requirements in manufacturing medical devices including arthroscopic and endoscopic tubular products and components. The technology is also termed as 'surgical precision' that precisely helps to create clean sharp edges, patterns, and contours in medical tools and devices found in this burgeoning field. Basically, laser can create products with even, smooth edges causing fewer problems when employed in the medical field. Laser cuts, mark and weld polymers and metal alloys that are used to produce the newly advanced surgical instruments, medical implant breakthroughs, and other related products in this industry. There are several key characteristics of lasers that make the devices suitable for use in variegated medical applications such as pacemaker components, cutting stents, endoscopes, and many other related medical instruments too.
Nowadays, the laser technology that is most frequently used in manufacturing medical components and tubes is fiber laser cutting with gas assist. Gas assist simply means the laser is primarily assisted using a coaxial gas such as oxygen. This type of technology produces high resolution cut paths and highest cut quality in medical tools. Nevertheless, medical device laser processing is a technology that is widely stretched and applied from surgical instruments, to different sized needles consisting unconventional side wall openings and walls, to flexible endoscopes and much more.
