High-strength laser welded joints are suited for high temperature sterilization and provide non-porous, sterile surfaces without any post-processing, essential especially for biocompatible materials. Lasers weld all kinds of metal used in the medical device industry, also shape memory alloys (Ni-titanium alloys). Laser weld spots and seams in the micron range can easily be generated, even in complicated areas. The heat-affected zone is at a minimum and keeps even highly sensitive components unaffected due to the material-optimized pulse shaping.
All colored or transparent thermoplastics and thermoplastic elastomers can be welded pressure-tight maintaining almost original material strength. With overlap welding the most commonly used method, the joint is completely hidden inside the welded parts. The absorption of the laser energy in the IR range is usually provided by pigments as for sensors, filters, pill cameras, plastic bags for fluids, tube connectors, balloon catheters and micro fluidic devices, and metal-polymer joints.
Laser systems can very flexibly adapted to the production environment: manually operated with microscope viewing or integrated into automated production, with fixed or fiber optics, image recognition and scanner heads for high processing speeds.
The majority of plastics – colored or transparent – can also be joined durable and without any additives.
