Medical Machining Technologies For Healthy Future
When machining for the medical industry, what you make matters a lot on a very personal basis. Every component that comes from the shopfloor will be used to improve someone’s quality of life. Orthopedic parts, implants, medical devices and special packaging are just a few of the catalog of medical parts that test the limits of manufacturing complexity and efficiency.
The use of medical implants for therapeutic applications has witnessed a steady rise in the last few years. The demand has also directly helped in the rapid development of the industry. Several updated and new machining techniques have cropped up and are put to use in order to increase the precision. The medical devices that can be as tiny as 0.5 centimeter is capable in saving lives and is also one of the main reasons why the industry demands high precision. Machining operations like drilling, turning and milling are some of the most important factors when it comes to medical machining.
Criticalities Faced
Among various trends that the industry has witnessed, the decreasing size of the medical devices seem to be the one that’s here to stay. With small sizes come small tolerances and this is what keeps the machinists on their toes. Medical machining refers to CNC machining related to orthotic devices, medical instruments and surgical implants. Machining of these medical parts involves certain challenges like: – micromachining, custom machining and machining titanium & plastics.
Laser In Medical Equipment
Since its invention in 1960, various applications of laser in the medical field have been developed. At present it is difficult to find an area where laser is not used in medical equipment. Processes like angioplasty and corneal sculpting are some of the areas where laser technology has been successfully applied. It is also useful clinical applications like treating cartilage and nerves, which is not possible with the use of conventional techniques. Laser technology has made major contributions to medicine, industrial and scientific arenas and today it is widely exposed beyond the clinical applications. Experts say, there are various clinical procedures that are possible only because of the precision and the reliability of the medical devices and instrumentation that are processed and manufactured by laser processing.
Drilling Technologies
There are various medical devices that require the drilling of very small and precise holes. As the holes get extremely small (<50 µm), according to many, laser drilling may be the only practical solution. Excellent focus makes laser the almost apt technology that can be used for drilling of very fine holes. While DPSS laser source or picosecond laser is used for the machining of metals and semiconductors, excimer laser is used for drilling plastics.
Rapid Prototyping
Also known as the future of manufacturing, rapid prototyping (RP) has become widely popular in the medical equipment industry as well. One of the most used RP in the recent time is laser sintering of prototype. Going further, direct laser sintering of metallic powders is one of the most important procedures for RP and rapid tooling. It allows apt modeling of metal parts with high bulk density on the basis of individual 3D data, which includes computer tomography models of anatomical structures. The technology not only gives rise to various prospects of alternative manufacture of medical devices but is also environment friendly.
Future Of Medical Machining In India
The manufacturing of complex medical parts with excellent surface finish and high accuracy requires high standard of machining. The materials used in the processes are mainly alloys like ceramics, titanium and stainless steel, which poses as a challenge for machining. It also requires high investment, the right market and technology upgradation for the Indian manufacturers to look at medical machining as a lucrative industry. These are some of the challenges that is keeping India away from making its mark in the field of medical machining. The Indian medical machining market is still in a nascent stage and might take some time to bloom.
nishant@mfgtechupdate.com
