Innovation of Laser Marking in Medical Device Manufacturing
- In modern society, lasers are widely used in the field of medical device manufacturing. A variety of different laser types are available for different machining processes, including marking, welding, cutting, and micromachining. Each process corresponds to specific machining needs, and new applications are constantly emerging.
- Laser marking: used for product information marking and traceability
Laser marking is a great way to permanently mark company logos and product information on equipment to ensure product traceability. Laser marking is a direct part marking process. The flexible processing of the laser makes it easy to create unique device identifiers, company logos, and text, graphics, and more about device usage. Laser marking is widely used in medical and dental equipment, such as for marking bone screws, and for marking container housings containing precision electronics such as pacemakers, hearing implants, intraocular lenses and endoscopic tools .
- Industrial lasers suitable for laser marking can be divided into ultraviolet lasers, green lasers, fiber lasers, carbon dioxide lasers and ultra-short pulse lasers according to wavelength, laser medium or pulse duration. Material properties, marking type and corresponding quality requirements determine which light source is the best choice.
Marking on stainless steel medical devices has become a specialized application of laser marking and this type of application is showing an increasing trend.
Medical device marking must meet the following conditions:
1) The color is dark or black and visible from all angles
2) Corrosion resistance
3) No surface inclusions (no engraving)
4) Biocompatibility
5) Can withstand multiple autoclaving cleaning
After a lot of rigorous tests such as salt spray, pressure cooker and acid cleaning, it is proved that the USP laser is the best for medical grade laser marking. This type of marking is commonly used to create band-like markings on medical cannulas and cannulae to demarcate the depth of insertion.