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Cardiac pacemakers are usually housed in a titanium housing that is welded together from two parts. Empa has optimized the frequency of the working laser, which would reduce the value of the medical product. Credit: istockphoto
Using laser technology Empa optimizes the technique of welding the electronics of implantable pacemakers and defibrillators into a titanium case. The medtech company Medtronic is now using the method worldwide.
In Tolochenaz (Canton of Vaud) the US medtech company Medtronic is one of the world's leading defibrillators. The electronics of these implantable devices are housed in titanium cases, which thus far have been hermetically sealed with a solid state laser flash. However, the lasers are high-maintenance and often the source of irregularities. Moreover, they require water cooling and a lot of space.
A new type of laser launched in 2015 by the US company IPG Photonics came to the rescue: This fiber laser is effectively energy-efficiently using air instead of water, requires less maintenance, works more consistently and is more compact. Initial tests conducted by Medtronic, however, revealed that the weld seams now have black edges that look like soot – extremely problematic for implants. Therefore, Medtronic's Sebastian Favre approached Empa materials specialists Patrik Hoffmann and Marc Leparoux from the Advanced Materials Processing Laboratory at the Thun site, who initiated a project to optimize the new laser for use with titanium. The project was funded by Innosuisse, the Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI).
Titanium nanoparticles look black
In order to simulate production processes at Medtronic, Empa builds its own "plant" to precisely analyze the behavior of the laser in a controlled environment. The results revealed that an interaction with the titanium vapor interferes with the process: The black edge on the seams of titanium nanoparticles. In follow-up experiments, the Empa researchers demonstrated that the black edge disappears if the laser is operated at a different wavelength. Laser manufacturer IPG Photonics subsequently built a laser fiber to the Empa researchers' specifications and offered it for further tests. As these experiments confirmed, adjusting the laser frequency effectively solved the problem.
Meanwhile, Empa, Medtronic and IPG Photonics jointly hold a patent for the optimized fiber laser. Medtronic benefits from improved production processes for its implants And Switzerland could confirm its status as a leading technology hub within the globally operating multinational US. After all, the special "Made in Switzerland" lasers are now being used at Medtronic Factories in Puerto Rico, Singapore and the US.
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