Whether you’re a customer, partner, or interested in learning more, this video offers insight into the people, processes, and purpose driving our Hudson team forward.

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Core Manufacturing Capabilities:

• High-volume manufacturing: We excel in producing large quantities efficiently without compromising on precision
• On-site automation and tooling team: Our dedicated team iterates and scales quickly to meet dynamic project requirements
• Glass photo tools: Essential for precision high-volume capability, ensuring consistency and accuracy
• Advanced etching techniques: Including surface texturing and partial depth etching, to achieve complex designs
• High-yield circuit etching: 0.6 mil (15 micrometers) line/space with 12 micrometer Cu thickness

Material Selection

While many metals can be etched, stainless steel is the most commonly used metal in medical applications due to its high corrosion resistance, high-temperature compatibility, high strength, and ease of fabrication. Other commonly used metals include Nitinol, Titanium, Copper, and Phos-bronze.

Substrate & Size/Thickness:

• Thickness range: 0.015 mm – 0.500 mm
• Standard sheet size: 12鈥漻27鈥� (305 mm x 686 mm)
• Capable of etching sheets up to 20鈥漻27鈥� (508 mm x 686 mm)

Applications in the Medical Device Industry

91快活林鈥� in-house PCM methods unlock the potential for medical devices leveraging custom resist, online process control, and enhanced metrology. Our experienced engineers develop and produce high-volume products with leading-edge tolerances and unprecedented results in both through-etch and partial-etch processes.

Chemically Etched Blades:

• Applications: Minimally invasive tissue dissection, peripheral artery disease catheters for angioplasty
• Benefits: No heat-affected zones, tight tolerance from cutting edge to proximal features, complex geometry

Microfluidic Sensors:

• Applications: Capillary electrophoresis, Isoelectric focusing, Immunoassays, Flow cytometry, Sample injection in mass spectrometry, PCR amplification, DNA analysis, Separation and manipulation of cells, Cell patterning
• Benefits: Complex geometry, stress-free components, high precision, and reliability

Filter Screens:

• Applications: Contamination control for medical hydraulics
• Benefits: High-strength bonded mesh, anti-rupture, custom screen designs, housings, and fittings

Getting Started with Photochemical Machining

Ready to leverage the most advanced capabilities in micromanufacturing for MedTech and life sciences products? Since 1987, 91快活林 has been at the forefront of medical technology, excelling in advanced engineering, micro-manufacturing, and assembly processes, including thin-wall tubing, laser processing, Nitinol processing, metal fabrication, and sensors.

Our operations enable us to meet the most aggressive timelines. Our proprietary Lightspeed Labs provide end-to-end service in pre-production and production phases with unmatched flexibility and accessibility.

We thrive on complex challenges, supporting projects at every stage with advanced technologies, purpose-built equipment, and vertically integrated capabilities. Known for rethinking what鈥檚 possible, we help expand the accessibility and efficacy of medical technology, improving treatment options worldwide.

Contact us today to get started on your project.

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• These processes support precision in manufacturing
• This improves the handling of delicate metal parts
• Production workflows are streamlined

Tabbing Features

Tabbing features are small, intentional tabs designed to connect individual parts to a large sheet of metal during manufacturing. This approach provides crucial support and stability, helping prevent damage to delicate or intricate parts.

Tabbing features are an essential part of the manufacturing process, particularly when working with larger sheets of metal. Typically, products are manufactured within a larger sheet and held in place by tabs. This helps maintain precise positioning and stability during chemical etching, allowing manufacturers to achieve tighter tolerances and more accurate dimensions. It also ensures that parts remain securely in place throughout the entire process.聽

Once the manufacturing process is complete, the individual parts can be easily removed, or 鈥渄e-tabbed,鈥� from the larger sheet. This step is critical for further processing or packaging of the parts, ensuring they are ready for their next stage of production or shipment.

Etching of Medical-Grade Metals

Etching is a precise manufacturing process used to remove material from metal surfaces and create intricate designs or functional features. For medical-grade metals, photochemical etching is preferred because it produces highly detailed components without introducing mechanical stress or heat.

Etching processes are commonly used for medical device components, surgical blades, screens, and filters.聽

Partial Etching

Partial depth etching is another common technique used in metal manufacturing. This process involves etching the metal to a partial depth in selected areas.聽

Typical features created by partial etching are pockets, troughs, texture, letters/numbers for text, or for assisting in breaking off the parts during detab (as described in the previous section). Partial etch features can be nearly any depth, but 65% of material thickness is the most efficient for manufacturing.聽

For instance, if the desired depth is approximately 65% of the metal thickness, single-side partial etched features can typically be etched simultaneously with double-side through-etched elements. This allows for precise control over the depth and dimensions of the etched areas.

Etching Tolerances and Substrate Dimensions

Precision is important in the etching processes, and understanding the tolerances and dimensions involved is crucial for achieving the desired results.聽

In this context, tolerance refers to the acceptable variation in part dimensions after etching, while substrate dimensions describe the thickness and size of the metal sheets used during production.

Here鈥檚 a breakdown of the tolerances for through-etch and partial-etch processes, as well as the substrate dimensions typically used:

Through-Etch Tolerances

Through-etch tolerance refers to the allowable variation in the size and placement of features that pass completely through the material, enabling precision for parts requiring holes or cutouts.

• Minimum Size: The through feature minimum size is equal to the material thickness plus 0.025 mm.
• Standard Tolerance: 卤 15% of metal thickness.
• Critical Tolerance: 卤 10% of metal thickness (卤0.010 mm minimum).
• Center-to-Center Tolerance: 卤 0.010 mm.

Partial-Etch Tolerances

Partial-etch tolerance refers to the allowable variation in the depth of material removed during etching, which helps ensure consistent features like pockets, textures, or break lines.

• Thickness Reduction: Available for single or multiple areas and depths.
• Standard Reduction: 65% reduction in material thickness (0.025 mm minimum).
• Depth Tolerance: 卤 10% of metal thickness removed (卤0.004 mm minimum).

Substrate Dimensions

Substrate dimensions refer to the thickness and size of the metal sheets used during etching, which determine the maximum part sizes and design options available.

• Thickness Range: 0.015 mm to 0.500 mm.
• Standard Sheet Size: 12鈥� x 27鈥� (305 mm x 686 mm).
• Maximum Sheet Size: Capable of etching sheets up to 20鈥� x 27鈥� (508 mm x 686 mm).

These techniques not only ensure the precision and quality of the final products but also streamline the manufacturing workflow. By mastering these processes, manufacturers can achieve greater efficiency and produce high-quality metal parts that meet the stringent requirements of various industries.

Ready to explore how precision metal manufacturing can support your next project? Contact our team of experts to learn more.

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The PCM Process

The PCM process begins with a photo tool, also known as a mask, which transmits light to create a pattern on a photosensitive material. This photosensitive layer then protects the metal during the etching process, effectively replicating the mask’s design onto the metal surface. As feature sizes decrease, achieving higher precision becomes essential, demanding greater control and a thorough understanding of each step.

During the etching process, metal is removed from the openings in the photoresist pattern. The etching continues even after the metal reaches breakthrough, aiming to achieve nearly straight hole sidewalls. This continued etching results in an undercut of the photoresist, necessitating a slightly different image on the photo tool than the target etched metal size. This difference, known as photo tool compensation, varies based on metal thickness and feature type. Correct photo tool compensation is crucial for the process design.

Etching Control

Photo Etching Control Engineers can adjust the etching time to control the sidewall shape, ranging from convex to concave. By making the image size smaller on one side of the product, the side slope of the hole can be controlled to create a micro funnel effect.

Precision Cleaning

The first step in the photo etching process is cleaning the metal. Stainless steel, known for its resistance to staining, can inhibit proper etching due to its high chromium content forming tenacious oxides on the surface. Precision etching requires the controlled removal of this chromium oxide layer before bulk metal etching.

Coating with Photo Resist

After cleaning, a high-resolution photoresist is applied to the metal. The photoresist can be a laminated film (dry film) or a liquid. This step must be performed in a cleanroom to prevent voids, bubbles, or contamination, ensuring high yields on precision products.

Exposure to Light

Next, the photoresist is exposed to collimated light through the photo tool. This step requires precise alignment of the top and bottom images, with equipment capable of aligning within a few micrometers to ensure accuracy.

Developing the Photo Resist

Following light exposure, the photoresist is developed to remove it from areas designated for etching. This step requires controlled chemistry and fluid delivery to achieve the desired feature size with sharp photoresist edges.

Metal Etching

The product then moves to the metal etching stage. For stainless steel, the typical etching chemistry is ferric chloride-based. Maintaining a consistent etch rate requires controlling various factors, including chemical concentrations, pH, and oxidation-reduction potential (ORP). Understanding the fluid exchange process at the substrate is essential, with factors such as viscosity, impingement, exchange rate, and surface tension playing crucial roles in defining precision features.

In-Process Control

Throughout these processes, in-process control and feature size measurements are vital. Engineers perform measurements with equipment having 10X greater accuracy than the product tolerances. Proper sample size and frequency are necessary to define true process capability (Cpk) results. Automated optical inspection can often be utilized to achieve 100% inspection.

The PCM process is a highly controlled and precise method for creating detailed metal components. Each step, from cleaning to final etching, requires a thorough understanding and meticulous control to produce high-quality results.

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