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      Laser welding in medical engineering

      Clean and hygienic

      Leister Laser Plastic Welding in Medical Industries

      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

      Blood analyzer welded using Leister Laser Plastic Welding

      Analyzers often feature specific components that are designed to be disposable. To keep the costs of these components as low as possible, they are usually made from plastic. The component shown in the figure was developed in China and is used to analyze blood. In this case, the contour technique was selected. Given that both components are transparent, the laser welding process has to meet a special requirement.

      Leister laser plastic welding applications for medical analytics in mediacl industry

       

       

      Laser welding of medical devices in the medical engineering industry

      Drug delivery system

      Some of the comforts that we enjoy as part of modern life stem from the development of medical devices.
      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.
      Rowe Pump used in medical industry welded with Leister laser plastic welding machine

      Insulin Pen

      Drug delivery systems for diabetics are another example of a wide-ranging field within medical engineering. The insulin pen from Ypsomed is laser welded at several points using both simultaneous and contour welding.
      Insulin pen from Ypsomed is laser welded at several points using both simultaneous and contour welding

      Disposables in the medical industry

      Wax guard

      medical disposables like wax gaurd in hearing aid welded using leister laser plastic welding

      For reasons of hygiene, many components or products in the medical engineering industry are manufactured as disposables. A wax guard is a disposable component used in hearing aids. When the guard becomes excessively soiled, it is simply replaced. There is a very thin membrane welded to the outer ring of the component. In this case, the mask welding technique is used. In comparison to a euro coin, the components are very small and the width of the welding seam is no more than 0.2 mm.

       

      Hospital technology in the medical industry

      Remote control

      Remote control in hospital beds are welded with Leister laser welding machine for water proof operation

      Hospital technology products are subject to the strictest hygiene requirements. They are frequently disinfected, i.e., treated with chemical agents or cleaned with cleaning agents. Hand-held controls for operating the adjustment mechanisms on hospital beds are regularly disinfected and cleaned in a washer. The components are welded using the contour technique and must be able to withstand the cleaning intervals concerned. The internal electronic components must be protected from the cleaning agents and so the welds have to be completely tight.

      Microfluidics components in the medical industry

      Microfluid components

      Leister laser plastic welding applications medical micro fluidics

      The mask welding principle allows this microfluid component to be precisely and strongly welded. The channel geometry is preserved and it is avoided that the melt flows into the channels of just 200 µm width.

       

       

      Specialties

      The systems in the NOVOLAS WS-AT series can be inte-grated into the production chain just like their predecessors: the NOVOLAS WS II machines.

      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.