Medical technical (Medtech) manufacturing is becoming increasingly more of a challenge to those entering the field. With components becoming progressively smaller and more intricate and complex, manufacturers have to become more adept at production. They have to extend their capabilities beyond the more traditional technology. Laser can fulfill this role. Laser marking services, as well as the use of lasers in cutting and drilling can provide solutions to the need to miniaturize medical devices even more.
Why Laser Marking for Medical Devices?
For many medical product providers, marking devices is critical. It serves a number of purposes including:
* Identifying the product
* Enable tracking
* Fighting against device counterfeiting
During the process, the marking device must not introduce any form of contamination or be a source of such. The component must also be smooth in order to prevent potential damage to the physical body of a patient. Overall, the ideal marking is:
* Permanent
* Easy to read
* Hard to copy or change
* Difficult to alter in any fashion
* Contains unique serialization information
* Does not alter the functionality of the product in any manner
These reasons explain why laser marking services act as an effective tool. They meet the required criteria and handily address the properties of the material used.
Materials Used in Laser Medical Manufacturing: Required Properties
When it comes to human health, naturally, any material permitted for use tends to fall into higher-level rankings of purity, strength and chemical resistance. It must be to meet he required specifications for their usage and the environment they occupy or perform within. However, the materials a laser will direct its forces in performing its task may also be:
* Corrosion-resistant: This is an essential quality for most applications of medical devices
* High strength metals: Common metals utilized in medical marking services include stainless steel and titanium
* High-strength ceramics: Companies often turn to zirconia and alumina
* Medical-grade polymers: These materials are composed of various thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs), polycarbonates and fluoropolymers e.g. Teflon (PTFE).
The tools utilized to produce medical devices from such material must do so with minimal fuss, leaving behind little to no debris and requiring very little post-production processing.
Laser Marking Services
In the medical technology industry, lasers are proving to become increasingly prevalent in the performance of certain tasks. With instruments and devices decreasing in size, and the need for greater precision levels, medical manufacturing companies and medical manufacturing contract companies are relying on the ability of lasers to give them the capabilities to produce precise instruments that function up to their desired and required levels. As the market continues to expand, laser marking services as well as cutting and drilling will become an integral component of the technologically adept equipment used by machine shops to produce complex, refined, high precision medical instrumentation.
