In the medical device manufacturing industry, precision, material compatibility, and surface quality are crucial, directly impacting patient safety and treatment outcomes. Picosecond laser cutting machines, with their unique advantages, are becoming a key processing tool in this field.
Picosecond laser cutting machines are widely used in the processing of cardiovascular interventional devices. Heart stents, a typical example, have extremely thin walls, typically less than 0.2mm, and complex structures. Picosecond lasers can achieve cutting widths of 10-20μm and processing accuracy of up to 5μm, virtually eliminating the heat-affected zone (HAZ), preventing edge carbonization, burrs, and microcracks, significantly improving the fatigue life and biocompatibility of stents.
Picosecond laser cutting has also demonstrated excellent performance in the manufacture of minimally invasive surgical instruments, such as catheters, guidewires, and endoscopic tools. In catheter processing, it enables high-precision micro-hole machining with micron-level aperture accuracy. By precisely controlling pulse energy and scanning paths, it can create thermally damage-free micro-hole arrays in heat-sensitive polymers and biodegradable materials, meeting specialized functional requirements such as sustained drug release and fluid control.
Picosecond laser cutting machines offer significant advantages. Their small focused spot size allows for micron-level machining accuracy, a feat unattainable with traditional machining methods. This technology meets the demands of processing tiny, complex structures in medical devices. Regarding thermal effects, picosecond pulses release energy before the material vaporizes, minimizing the heat-affected zone and virtually eliminating heat conduction, preserving the material's original properties to the greatest extent possible. This makes them particularly suitable for heat-sensitive biomaterials. Surface quality is achieved with burr-free, slag-free cuts. For example, when cutting 0.1mm-thick nickel-titanium shape memory alloy, a 50μm-wide serpentine circuit can be precisely machined with sidewall perpendicularity exceeding 89.5°, significantly reducing post-processing steps such as polishing.
The application of picosecond laser cutting technology in medical device processing has significantly boosted industry development, improved product quality and performance, and provided strong support for advancements in medical technology. It holds broad promise for future medical device manufacturing.