Laser Processing

Cutting parts of all geometries from a variety of metal and polymer materials. Learn more
Welding for a wide range of medical applications to tight specifications with no filler. Learn more
Precision holes for a vast array of materials with the proper wavelength for your needs. Learn more
Shaping complex micro components without damaging the underlying material. Learn more
Selective material removal and tight tolerance features for today’s smallest extrusions. Learn more
Permanent marking of serial numbers, lot numbers or logos. Learn more
Manufacturing complex components with shape memory properties. Learn more
Wide variety of medical grade metals, polymers and bioabsorbable materials. Learn more

Laser Cutting

Cutting parts of all shapes and sizes with a diverse group of equipment.

We offer laser cutting services across a variety of materials for flat, tubular and molded parts. With our diversity of wavelengths, we choose the proper tool for your individual material and geometry requirements.

Metal Cutting Capabilities

  • Clean, burr-free cuts
  • Most metals used in the medical industry
  • Materials as thin as .0005″
  • Accuracy of +/-.0003″
  • Tubing as small as .010″ diameter
  • Off-axis cutting on tubing, allowing for true bolt holes and other features
  • Passivation and electropolishing of metals

Metal Applications

  • Precision features in tubing, machine components and flat material for catheters
  • Orthopedic tools and devices
  • Stents
  • Flexible catheter shaft cutting

Polymer Laser Cutting Capabilities

  • PEEK, Nylon, Pebax, Polyimide, PLLA and Polyurethane are common materials
  • Features and tolerance down to 15 microns
  • Multi-axis machining
  • Cleanroom processing available

Polymer Applications

  • Reinforcing surgical components
  • Filter membranes
  • Catheter tips

Laser Welding

Fuse metals with no filler material
Laser welding is a repeatable process and can be validated to tight specifications. Our equipment allows us to cover a wide range of medical applications. This encompasses spot welding wires and tubing (less than .004 spot size) to laser welding surgical and orthopedic tools that require .030” penetration.
Common inspections techniques include helium leak testing on hermetic welds, and tensile testing.

Welding Capabilities

  • Hermetic seal and structural welds
  • Spot welds to .003″ diameter
  • Welding of 300 Series SS and most alloys (including dissimilar metals)
  • Helium leak testing, tensile testing and metallurgical analysis
  • Cleanroom processing

Applications

  • Precision component joining
  • Wire welding
  • Orthopedic tools
  • Sealed catheter tips

Laser Drilling

Six wavelengths of lasers that specialize in drilling.

Laser drilling is commonly used in many medical devices including embolic protection and drug delivery catheters. The breadth of our technology provides the flexibility to choose the proper wavelength for your application.

Drilling Capabilities

  • Imaging capabilities to reduce costs
  • Highly repeatable
  • Hole diameters down to 12 microns
  • Cleanroom processing available

Applications

  • Embolic protection devices
  • Drug delivery catheters
  • Irrigation catheters
  • Drug delivery balloons
  • Delivery ports

Wire Stripping/Ablation

Shaping a wire or tube with material removal

Creating complex micro components by removing the insulation from a very fine wire, without damaging the underlying material, or selectively removing a coating from a device.

Wire Stripping and Ablation Capabilities

  • Reel to reel stripping of insulated wire, as small of diameters as .0015”
  • Selective coating removal with multi-axis capabilities
  • Multiple wavelengths available to cleanly remove most coating and insulations

Applications

  • Selective insulation removal on electrophysiology and pacing components
  • Coating removal on coils

Profiling and Skiving

Selectively remove material from an extrusion

Create relief for marker bands, reduce the OD of a tube in a specific location, or provide the ability for a tube collapse in a known location depending on the requirements of their device.
With multi-lumen extrusions becoming more compact, laser skiving has become a preferred option. We can create tight tolerance features in selective lumens on many of today’s smallest extrusions.

Profiling and Skiving Capabilities

  • Multi-axis profiling
  • Complex patterns on outside diameters
  • Controlled depth drilling into individual lumens
  • Laser tipping
  • Cleanroom processing

Applications

  • Porting on rapid exchange catheters
  • Electrophysiology catheters
  • Drug delivery devices

Marking

Serializing and part marking are critical for traceability

The marks become a permanent part of the material without adding any foreign substances and can be passivated after marking.
We offer marking services for many polymer materials. One of the most common marking applications is laser marking of silicone for leads, but many other polymers can be marked with serial numbers, lot numbers or logos. The marking is permanent without adding any additional material or creating depth in the marked area.

Marking Capabilities

  • 2-D and bar coding
  • Serialization
  • Diverse selection of materials
  • Logos and part numbers
  • Cleanroom processing

Applications

  • Surgical tools
  • Orthopedic Implants
  • Catheter components
  • Labeling and serialization of implantable devices
  • Locating marks on catheters and introducers

Nitinol Processing

Multitude of manufacturing services for complex shape memory alloy component geometries

Industry leading expertise in manufacturing Nickel-Titanium alloy medical device components. Our high-speed femtosecond laser cutting, precision electropolishing, and shape setting expertise allow us to help you deliver medical devices to the market.

Nitinol Capabilities

  • Dedicated rapid prototyping resources
  • Femtosecond/microsecond laser cutting
  • Stamping
  • Shape setting/AF tuning
  • Multiple property testing
  • Micro grit blasting/tumbling/etching
  • Wet/dry electropolishing

Applications

  • Electrophysiology mapping and ablation components
  • Interventional retrieval devices
  • Structural heart components

Materials

Metals

Stainless steel, cobalt chrome, nitinol, and precious metals are just a few of the many materials we are set up to handle with our diverse selection of laser equipment. The cutting, welding, and drilling are performed on six distinct families of equipment allowing us to pick the proper tool for your specification. These workstations range from high-power fiber lasers to Femtosecond “Cold Cutting” laser systems.

• Laser cutting
• Laser welding
• Laser drilling
• USP cutting (COLD)

Polymers and Bioabsorbable (Biodegradable) Polymers

Multi-lumen extrusions (of any configuration), tubing, balloons, coated wire, or sheet, any odd shape, we have the skills and tools to make the finest plastic micro scale components. With multiple wavelengths dedicated to laser processing of polymers we can choose the proper tool for your application. Machining in multi-lumen extrusions is a specialty that has developed out of our years of experience in catheter machining.

• Hole drilling
• Wire stripping/ablation
• Profiling/shaping and skiving
• Laser cutting