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Effective Uses of Laser Marking for Medical Devices

As the medical field progresses, Lasers play a central role in the growth of health care procedures. What once required prolonged hospitalization and recuperation can now be achieved in a fraction of the time and without overnight hospital stays. Lasers are in the forefront of the shift. Lasers have been used to indicate, weld and reduce medical devices and surgical tools. More technical programs include making cuts into the micron, highly resolved biocompatible markers that enable traceability of implants and instruments, and spot welds with heat affected zones which are virtually invisible. Laser technology has the ability to create markings without damaging the essential chemical makeup chemical passivation essential to reduce germ intrusion and to guarantee corrosion resistance in a particular material. Years later, a laser marked surface will keep its rust resistant finish, despite years of use, cleaning and sterilization. This is one of the different features of laser marking.

There is more behind these Improvements than meets the eye. Apart from the self-evident benefit for those in the medical profession, there is been a regulatory element driving these inventions, specifically, federal agencies and the private sector have pushed for improvements in the identification and trace-ability of medical device components. The purpose behind this is to make it much easier to quickly identify and isolate any system that might have to be recalled and, finally, to increase patient safety. Subsequent amendments mandated that markers must appear on the device  for specific categories of devices. These markers, which are sector – and vendor-specific, frequently require that medical devices and instruments are marked with long alpha-numeric strings, such as date and place of manufacture, serial and part numbers, for monitoring purposes. Consequently, permanent ID for goods can reach in the many digits and on devices as small as or smaller than the ordinary pencil, space is not infinite.

 In this respect, medical device testing is unparalleled laser markers can create resolved ID or 2D metric code of greater than 20 characters in the space of just a few millimeters. Hot foil, ink jet, and display Printing, perfectly appropriate for additional commercial marking, are not acceptable for medical apparatuses, such as invasive surgical tools, or implants, because they require the inclusion of chemical compounds. Lasers, on the other hand, can create highly accurate, pristine, and permanent markers on exceptionally sensitive Products and parts. Silicones or polyamides, once considered unmarkable, can be marked with lasers and comply with FDA regulations. It is these advances that have made lasers the go-to technology for permanent, automated, and elastic marking within the health care industry. Laser technology continues to progress with, and push the advancement of, medical device technology, because of the supreme accuracy, and offers continuous cost-savings throughout the business.

Categories: General

Roman Zakharenko