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 Micro-abrasive blasting is a technology that is increasingly sought out by medical device manufacturers. MicroBlasters® are improving production quality and efficiency in medical manufacturing worldwide in such areas as:
Catheter/Guide wire: Micro-abrasive blasting is currently used in catheter manufacturing to remove polymer coverings from small selected areas and to remove PTFE coatings from guide wire. The process is also extremely effective at preparing surfaces to promote bond and coating adhesion.
Sodium Bicarbonate media, with its sharp cutting action and water solubility characteristics, is ideally suited for these types of applications.
 Needles/Tubular components:During the tube grinding process, a burr known as a ‘heel burr’ forms and must be removed. Holes or slots that are laser machined in the tubing and may also require deburring.
Additional applications include selective texturing of the tube surface prior to over-molding and light abrading to impart an echogenic or etched surface finish.
Alumniunm Oxide and Glass Bead media are the most common blasting materials for these types of applications.
Vascular stents: The vascular stent manufacturing process generates undesirable material deposition on the OD and ID of the devices. Oxidation and discoloration can also form on them during production. The micro-abrasive blasting process is widely used by stent manufacturers to remove the unwanted materials without altering the intricate geometry of the devices.
MicroBlasting is used to lightly texture the stent prior to the application of special coatings.
Aluminum Oxide and Silicon Carbide are typically used for stent abrading.
Implantable devices: Bone screws, plates and implantable prostheses often have intersecting holes or slots which are difficult to deburr by conventional means but can be deburred easily by MicroBlasting. Texturing may be required on these devices for example, to promote tissue growth around the implant. The micro-abrasive blasting process performs this task with precision and repeatability.
Silicon Carbide, Aluminum Oxide and Glass Bead are usually selected for blasting these types of products.
Medical Molding: Injection molding is used to produce a vast range of medical devices and disposable components. The tooling needed to mold these products is very expensive and requires periodic maintenance to the mold cavities.
MicroBlasting is used to clean and restore surface finishes without introducing dimensional changes to the mold cavity. Additionally, micro-abrasive blasting is used to remove EDM residue and to texture the surface of the cavity on a new mold.
Crushed Glass, Walnut Shell, Glass Bead, and Plastic media are all used for cleaning molds; Aluminum Oxide and Silicon Carbide however, are used for cavity texturing.
 Medical Electronics: Electronic components are prominent in medical diagnostic and surgical instruments, as well as implantable devices such as cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators.
Micro-abrasive blasting has been used to selectively remove silicone insulation to expose an electrical conductor on defibrillators. It can also remove excess encapsulation material from cardiac pacemakers.
Electronic diagnostic and surgical equipment contain printed circuit boards that have a conformal coating applied to the components of the board to protect against environmental conditions. Often replacement of failed components is necessary. Micro-abrading can selectively remove the coating so that the device can be removed and replaced.
Sodium Bicarbonate is frequently used for electronic applications. Plastic media and Walnut Shell are also very effective for coating removal.
For more information about microblasting in medical applications, read the following articles featured in industry magazines:
Also see the following PDF documents:
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