Manufacturing Medical Devices: EDM and HSM Help You Rebuild Him Better!

Rapid advances in medical device technology have put increased demands on the manufacturing processes utilized by OEMs and their vendors. As workpiece materials get harder to machine and parts get more complex, smaller, lighter and more accurate, EDM (Electrical Discharge Machining) and HSM (High Speed Machining) are often the processes of choice. This presentation will review the latest developments in EDM and HSM technology and show how these processes can help designers optimize medical device design, performance and reliability.

Thousands of EDMs are already used in the medical device industry and are the process of choice for combinations of materials and workpiece geometries that would not be achievable with conventional machining processes, especially: deep/narrow holes/slots, fragile/thin walls, hard/tough materials and small internal radii.

The latest wire EDMs offer tolerances to +- 1 micron, surface finishes to 0.1 Ra, recast layers of <1 micron and total process monitoring to assure that the millionth part is identical to the first article. B axes allow parts to rotate while EDMing, easily creating parts too small to Swiss turn and shapes previously not attainable.

The latest CNC EDM diesinkers offer capability to cut holes to diameters of 10 microns and have special thermal stabilization and thermal monitoring to assure consistent workpiece accuracy.

HSMs offer 5 simultaneous axes, RPMs to 56,000 and accelerations to 1g/axis. This combination makes the machining of tiny, precisely detailed components feasible.

The presentation will review a variety of medical devices made with EDM and HSM and explain why these processes were chosen. We look forward to attendees challenging us with the parts that they have been told are “too difficult to make” so we can help the industry relax design constraints and develop the next generation of successful devices.