Medical Laser Processing of Heart Stents and Catheters: An Efficient, High-Precision Solution

"Coretech's SC Series high-precision 2D motion stage is widely used in medical laser processing equipment—such as heart stent laser cutting and catheter laser processing—thanks to its outstanding stability and motion accuracy."

01 Heart Stents

On November 5, 2020, China launched volume‑based procurement (the so‑called "centralised procurement") for high‑value medical consumables, reducing the average price of a heart stent from RMB 13,000 to less than RMB 700.

Behind this dramatic price reduction lie not only the combined support of the healthcare industry and policy, but also a more critical factor: high‑precision laser processing is increasingly being adopted in the medical field for its unique advantages, overcoming challenges that traditional processing cannot address while balancing manufacturing precision and efficiency—thus driving technological innovation and upgrading in industrial‑scale heart stent processing.

Since heart stents are implanted directly into the human body, their functional characteristics and safety must be rigorously evaluated to meet extremely stringent requirements, including flexibility, thromboresistance, biocompatibility, and radial strength.

The wall tubing of heart stents is extremely thin—typically from several tens of microns down to just 10 μm—while the diameter is usually over ten millimetres. Precision laser cutting is therefore required for fabrication. Conventional machining would result in excessive burrs and inconsistent kerf widths, rendering the stents unfit for use.

02 Femtosecond Laser Processing

For the latest third‑generation bioresorbable stents, which are small, thin‑walled, and demanding in both geometry and mechanical properties, laser processing is the optimal manufacturing method. Owing to the athermal nature of ultrafast femtosecond laser processing, it becomes possible to machine low‑melting‑point materials—such as magnesium alloys or polymer stents made of polylactic acid. Since these stents have low melting points and are biodegradable, they cannot undergo the same post‑processing as conventional metal stents; hence, only ultrafast laser cutting is feasible.

03 Coretech Solutions

SC Series Stent Processing Platform

• Highly integrated linear‑rotary integrated stage

• Equipped with direct‑drive linear motor and direct‑drive rotary motor

• Synchronised coordinated motion of linear and rotary axes

• Linear axis travel: 100 mm (200 mm and 300 mm models optional)

• Collet diameter: customisable from 0.3 mm to 10 mm, with low‑friction rotary unit

• Linear axis repeatability: ±200 nm; rotary axis repeatability: ±4 arcsec

• Customisable through‑hole and stent loading/unloading options

• Theta axis maximum speed: better than 1500 rpm

04 Test Results

Coretech's SC Series platform can be equipped with customised fixtures, such as bushing alignment and manual or automatic material pre‑loading. Together with a high‑performance motion controller, it easily achieves linear‑rotary two‑axis interpolation. Based on the synthesised trajectory of the two axes, real‑time position‑based triggering is performed, perfectly synchronising the laser with the cutting path. Matching the current cutting speed maintains optimal laser power coupling, minimising geometric errors in densely contoured features. The platform is widely used in applications such as waveguide processing and cardiovascular stent cutting.