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Medical Device Machining: Parts and Components

What are some examples of precise medical parts and components?

Expectations are a recurring daily part of our lives. Many times, we expect to enjoy the movie we go out to watch or expect a delicious dinner at a restaurant that has received many positive reviews. These are typical expectations; most of the time the results compliment what we were hoping to experience. When at times the movie is dull and the food not as savory as we thought it would be, we think about the next outings and options without any real effect on our lives. For critical services and industries, however, often our expectations are not as prominent, because the expectation is seeded deep and rightfully so. We don’t think about how well public transportation will function and hope for a good flight or train ride. It should be pleasant and void of malfunctions. Lives depend on this. For the medical industry this too is etched into our expectations as quality of life by diagnosis and treatment and has no room for error. This is why medical CNC machining is prominent and is playing a vital role in medical manufacturing. The capabilities of precision medical machining are a necessity to achieve high quality components for diagnostic machines, orthopedics, surgical tools, implants, trays, chairs and the list goes on and on. The following will be a glimpse of how CNC medical machining shops support our ever-growing expectations.

Wheelchairs have been around for centuries, and though crude versions go back to the early 1600’s, new advanced chairs are now available to help those with limited mobility. There are numerous differences of course from those early models made of wood and iron. They were heavy and not designed ergonomically as we see today. CNC medical machining allows for the new designs along with materials to be used that were not available 70 years ago, like tungsten, titanium and aluminum and steel. Multipurpose chair designs now can convert from the standard wheelchair profile to a standing support, to a leverage incline assisting in bed and bathroom access.  Precision is key. Parts fit and function as designed and are finished to avoid injury to the patients or caregivers.

The technologies being developed by medical professionals supported by precision medical machining continues to amaze and enhance lives. One such way was through hearing aid technology. A particular project required support in two areas, one for the electronics in battery function by using thin copper tabs and the other for the sustained quality of the device operation with stainless steel parts. The coordination of two different manufacturing teams and the best ways to process both the copper and stainless steel with the high quality demanded was a great success.

Medical Diagnostics enables medical professionals to quickly evaluate patients and proceed with treatments faster and with more data than ever before. Medical device machine shops know the critical nature of supporting this industry and review each project thoroughly. A top provider of medical diagnostics needed stainless steel parts as part of the mechanism used for their new device. These required medical machining quality and knowledge of manufacturing, so a partnership was created between the OEM and medical CNC machining. This project not only needed the expertise in machining stainless steel to precise dimensions, but also for the machining of aluminum as part of the medical device housing.  

Medical implants and devices are used regularly, and as medical procedures have advanced, often these procedures are done with an outpatient process. In doing so, the wellbeing of patients is the top priority. One example that used medical CNC machining, was for precision drilled peek tubing. These tubes played an integral role in determining the proper function of the device. These one-time use medical devices greatly improved a patient’s quality of life by a procedure only talking about 10 minutes.

CNC machining supports the medical industry producing numerous products and precision components by employing methods like CNC routing, CNC lathes, CNC Mills, CNC laser, CNC wire EDM and others. Examples of these are surgical instruments made from stainless steel, tungsten, and titanium, such as:

  • Forceps
  • Surgical scissors
  • Surgical blade handles
  • Retractors
  • Cutters
  • Surgical knives
  • Biopsy tools

Precision medical machining also produces in part medical equipment housings and mechanisms like:

  • X-ray machines
  • CT Scanners
  • MRI Scanners
  • Heart rate scanners
  • Examination tables
  • and so many more.

The relationship between the medical industry and CNC medical machining produces products for implants out of materials like Peek, stainless steel, titanium, molybdenum, tungsten and examples of these are:

  • Catheters
  • Stents
  • Hip and knee joints.
  • Components for pacemakers
  • Screws
  • Pain regulation implants
  • Spinal implants
  • Drug delivery systems.

Precision medical machining uses QMS or Quality Management Systems under industry standards like ISO 9001 and 13485. ISO stands for the International Organization for Standardization. These industry standards are the framework in which medical device machine shops and other service providers manufacture with reliability, risk management, and traceability. It is important to speak with your preferred medical CNC machining service provider when planning your next project.

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