Medical
Laser welding in medical engineering
Clean and hygienic
There are many different areas of medical engineering that involve the use of plastics. Laser plastic welding has been an established part of certain applications for years. The medical devices market is a prime example of an area where products containing laser-welded components have been introduced. Microfluidics and chips for analytics are particularly worthy of mention in this regard. In many applications, these kinds of components also take the form of disposables, which can be found in various areas of medical engineering. Other products or devices have assemblies welded onto them. These usually have to be joined in such a way that they are sealed off tightly from the environment. Frequent application areas for medical engineering products include doctor's offices and hospitals. Consequently, the area of hospital care involves a large number of products that are partially made of plastic and are also laser welded.
Analyzers in the medical industry
Analyzers
Laser welding of medical devices in the medical engineering industry
Drug delivery system
Drug delivery systems (sometimes referred to as "drug dosing systems") assist patients by administering their medication constantly. Their increasingly compact design makes them comfortable to wear. One example is the Rowe-Pump, a physically powered pump that can be set to different dosages. The components are required to withstand an internal pressure of up to 4 bar. The welds must be completely free of particles, not least because of the stringent hygiene requirements associated with the device (which is used in direct contact with the patient) and the integrated micro-channels with diameters in the >10 μm range. The laser welding process allows these requirements to be met.
Insulin Pen
Disposables in the medical industry
Wax guard
Hospital technology in the medical industry
Remote control
Microfluidics components in the medical industry
Microfluid components
Specialties
At Continental in Rüthi (Switzerland), a WS II has been integrated into the production chain using a conveyor belt. A camera system detects the workpiece carrier before the component is conveyed into the welding zone and sends this information to the welding system. The WS II then makes the process data settings and welds the compo-nents automatically. This allows three different components to be welded on this one system.