Manufacture AIMDs more efficiently with laser technology

Laser welding can be used to ensure lossless electrical connections within a specified contact area.

Pulse frequencies and strengths can be controlled, enabling laser welding at low heat and joining of almost all metallic materials. This is particularly relevant for flexible printed circuit boards in defibrillators and pacemakers or for connecting sensitive sensor systems. These weld seams have to withstand high mechanical loads.

Active implants are welded at low heat to prevent damage to the delicate materials inside. Because of their special design, sensors or plastic components often lie very close to the welding area of the implants - especially if they are smaller and more complex. 

The advantage of weld seams is that they are very fine and smooth and have hygienic, non-porous surfaces. They are also hermetically sealed, protecting both the patient and the internal device components after implantation.

When cutting multi-helix lines, the laser ensures that the coating of individual coils remains intact. This allows the geometry to be trimmed as required by radial, axial, staggered or perpendicular cuts to prepare it for further processing, such as the laser welding of cable ends. 

This technology does not produce splinters that could damage the insulation. There are also no heat effects or wear. The process is automated, meaning it also requires less time and less reworking compared to conventional manufacturing methods.

Laser technology can be used to prepare medical device components for bonding by structuring their surfaces. For example, the roughness of electrode heads can be optimised with the laser so that they adhere perfectly during bonding.

Additionally, the laser makes it possible to clean surfaces, remove coatings and remove irregularities like ETFE, PTFE, PFA, polyurethane or parylene from heat exchangers or equipment housings.

An electrode or wire often consists of several parts. Short tack weld spots allow these individual parts to be fixed in the correct position in relation to each other before the assembly is welded.

Only through this assembly process can you ensure tight geometric tolerances without distortion. In addition, this also simplifies assembly, as the parts hold together without requiring a lot of force.

Use laser ablation to reduce wall thicknesses in polymer hoses to achieve increased flexibility locally and thus the best possible flow rates.

Typical application areas are multilumen tubes for catheters and endoscopes.

Innovative laser marking provides high-contrast, permanent and non-corrosive markings that are highly legible on a wide variety of materials.

This allows sequential batch numbers and serial designations to be applied to individual parts and equipment for faster and easier identification and tracking in manufacturing and logistics.

When device components require special patterns, it is common to punch them or etch them using chemical processes. These processes are technically very demanding and require a lot of time and money.

Laser microprocessing and laser ablation provide an efficient alternative that reliably delivers precise results. Laser cutting requires nothing more than a program change in the control software. You can then quickly and precisely perform any number of repetitions in the highest quality.

Lasers gives you the greatest geometrical freedom when cutting sensors with polymer carrier materials such as flexible printed circuit boards (PCBs). It is this flexibility that allows printed circuit boards to be folded and placed in small compact housings, such as the pacemaker electronics or camera and sensor systems of flexible endoscopes. The same laser that is used here for cutting can then also be used for the laser marking of serial numbers, among other things.