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Medical Devices

• Device and Implantable Marking

  Traceability is a necessary requirement within the medical sector. Ideally, every product should be individually identifiable if recalled. Laser technology provides one of the most reliable methods of direct part marking and can easily achieve high contrast details that enable traceability of almost any product.

• Medical Tool Welding

  Tools probes and leads used in medicine must be fabricated from different alloys depending upon their end use. They must be joined with smooth welds without pores so they can be sterilized in an autoclave time and time again. Laser welding works for all of these applications as a laser weld produces a smooth hermetic seal. Laser welding has very low heat input and can be placed very close to polymer seals, glass-to-metal seals, soldered components, and electronic circuits. Pulsed YAG lasers are the best choice for medical tool welding.

• Microcutting

  Probably the most demanding application for micro- cutting in the medical device industry is the cutting of stents. A stent is a small, lattice-shaped, metal tube that is inserted permanently into an artery. The stent helps hold open an artery so that blood can flow through it. Stents are cylindrical metal scaffolds that are inserted inside a diseased coronary artery to restore adequate blood flow. The typical tube diameters are between 1 and 10mm, with a wall thickness of approx. 100um. The key requirement is a small kerf width (20-30um) and this requires high beam quality and very good laser power stability.  Fiber lasers are the best choice for this application because of very good beam quality which can produce a very small spot size i.e. down to 15um.

• Pacer, Defibrillator, Drug-Pump Welding

  Implanted medical devices that incorporate electronics and sensors require process control and end-product quality that is second to none. These devices must not only function flawlessly, they must have an aesthetic quality that helps with sterilization and does not irritate the tissue. The welds on these implantables must be a hermetic seal very close to heat sensitive components and since the value of the component before welding is very high, the yield from the welding process must also be high. Laser welding meets these requirements, as a laser weld produces a smooth hermetic seal. Pulsed YAG lasers are the best choice for medical package assembly and sealing.

• Packaging and coding date codes

  Laser technology provides one of the most reliable methods of direct part marking and can easily achieve high contrast details that enable traceability of almost any product. The clean, high quality, permanent marks obtained with a laser are durable enough to withstand harsh environments, including cleaning with disinfectants and steam sterilization.

• Precision Welding

  GSI pulsed lasers are used in the medical industry to weld devices such as pacemakers, endoscopes, forceps etc. One such application is the patented radioactive implant manufactured using GSI Group low- power Nd: YAG lasers for Brachytherapeutic treatment of prostate cancer. This involves the implantation of very tiny radioactive pellets or seeds into the prostate gland, which delivers radiation directly to the malignancy and over time becomes non-radioactive. Also known as internal radiation therapy, this brachytherapy has been rapidly gaining in popularity because by confining and targeting the therapy directly to the cancer site, side effects to the rest of the body are significantly reduced. Typical lasers used for this application pulsed systems.

• Radioctive Isotope Implant Welding

  Treating the body with radioactive materials is called Brachytherapy. Implanted capsules that incorporate therapeutic radioactive elements must be small, hermetically sealed, easily assembled to order in a short time, and stand up to the implanting process and hardware. The capsules are small, generally less than 150um wall thickness, less than 1mm in diameter, and only a few millimeters long. These devices must also be smooth to help with sterilization and not irritate surrounding tissue. The value of the component before welding is very high and rejected parts contain radioactive isotopes that must be removed so high yield is critical. Laser welding meets this challenge and pulsed YAG lasers are the best choice for capsule and seed assembly and sealing.