Precision Micro-Cutting for Implants & Stents

Medical implant manufacturing requires feature sizes that no mechanical process can achieve. Laser micro-cutting creates stent struts as narrow as 60μm, catheter slots at 50μm width, and implant features with positional accuracy of ±5μm — all on materials designed to survive decades inside the human body.

Quick Answer

Stent cutting uses pulsed fiber lasers (50–200W, ns/ps pulse) or ultrashort-pulse (USP) femtosecond lasers for the finest features. Tube diameters range from 1.5–10mm with wall thickness of 0.08–0.3mm. Kerf width: 20–50μm (USP) or 80–150μm (ns fiber). After cutting, parts undergo electropolishing to remove the recast layer and achieve Ra < 0.2μm surface finish.

Laser Types for Medical Micro-Cutting

Laser Type	Pulse Width	Kerf Width	HAZ	Best Application
Pulsed fiber (ns)	10–200 ns	80–150μm	10–50μm	Standard stents, instruments
Picosecond	1–50 ps	30–80μm	2–10μm	Fine stents, drug-eluting
Femtosecond	100–500 fs	20–50μm	<2μm	Ultra-fine features, polymers
CW fiber (low power)	Continuous	100–200μm	30–100μm	Larger implants, instruments

Material-Specific Parameters

Material	Wall Thick.	Avg Power	Pulse Energy	Speed	Gas
316LVM SS	0.10mm	30–60W	0.3–0.8 mJ	5–15 mm/s	O₂ or Ar
Nitinol (NiTi)	0.15mm	50–100W	0.5–1.5 mJ	3–10 mm/s	Ar (mandatory)
L-605 CoCr	0.08mm	20–50W	0.2–0.6 mJ	3–8 mm/s	O₂ or Ar
Ti-6Al-4V ELI	0.20mm	40–80W	0.4–1.0 mJ	2–8 mm/s	Ar (mandatory)

Quality Inspection for Micro-Cut Parts

Dimensional Inspection

• Optical measurement at 50–200×: strut width, gap width
• μCT scanning for 3D geometry verification
• Profile projector for tube concentricity
• Auto-measurement software with statistical output
• Cpk > 1.33 required, Cpk > 2.0 preferred

Surface / Edge Inspection

• SEM at 500–5000× for edge quality assessment
• White-light interferometry for Ra measurement
• Cross-section metallography for HAZ/recast
• XPS/EDX for surface chemistry verification
• Dye penetrant for crack detection on critical parts