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Picosecond Laser Processing For Medical industry

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Laserod Wafer
Picosecond Laser Processing For Medical industry

Lasers have been proven to be versatile industrial tools, providing robust and reliable performance that is effective for a wide range of industrial applications beyond those mentioned in any article. And the new UV picosecond lasers are especially beneficial for the precise, small feature sizes.

The combination of fast picosecond pulses, excellent pulse-to-pulse consistency, and high levels of repetition produces precise cuts and patterns with smooth, clean edges, and sometimes without post-process cleaning. As an alternative to current laser and non-laser methods, picosecond laser is gaining market share in emerging applications.

Picosecond laser micromachining for the medical industry: Bioabsorbable stent cutting

In the U.S. alone, over half a million stents are used to open blood vessels each year. Restenosis was one complication of early, all-metal stents, where plaques grow on the stent, re-blocking the opened blood vessel. In response, stent manufacturers produced the second generation of stents, which were coated with an anti-restenosis drug containing a bioabsorbable material. This medication slowly fuses on-site as the coating dissolves over months.

However, there are still potential long-term, post-operative complications with these stents. So bioabsorbable materials have been produced, which entirely disappear after the critical months after vessel opening has given a support system. The polymers utilized in such stents must be strong enough to withstand physical stress inside the body, and many types of bioabsorbable materials already exist which meet this criterion.

To produce the stent structure and provide the appropriate smooth surface finish, extremely high precision (< 20 μm) is necessary, making the laser a suitable option for this mission. The increased optical absorption available at deep UV wavelengths means lasers were a popular choice for polymers with micromachining. An emerging alternative approach is to use picosecond-focused UV (355 nm) pulses at a small spot size(~10 μm), which promotes higher optical absorption in a small localized area.

Why Choose Laserod Technologies

Laserod is dedicated to providing exceptional micromachining services to a variety of industries, including Medical, Aerospace, Solar cell, Touch screen fabricators, and others. Laserod’s specialties range from drilling and cutting thin materials to circuit patterning on displays and everything in between. Whatever the project may be, Laserod Technologies is always ready for it. So contact one of our experts at 310-340-1343/ 888-991-9916 to see if we can help.

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