Zone: Medical Machining

A Quick Look At PEEK Machining

The use of PEEK polymer for medical implant devices is on the rise. A supplier of this material offers cutting tool tips for shops that may soon add PEEK machining to their list of capabilities.

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Passivation of Stainless Steel Parts: The Recipe for Success
2/26/2010 Modern Machine Shop: Passivation—the process for making stainless steel parts more corrosion-resistant—is affected by how well the part is cleaned. It’s also affected by the choice of acid. Nitric or citric?
Switching Material Improves Productivity, Bar None
2/1/2010 Production Machining: Serving the exacting and specialized requirements of the medical implant industry requires manufacturers to not only use the most precise, state-of-the-art metalworking equipment, but also high quality raw materials, including precision ground bar capable of offering tight dimensional tolerances and exceptional diameter uniformity.
It Takes Firm Resolution To Master The Micro
1/18/2010 Modern Machine Shop: This shop’s experience of successfully machining a micro aneurysm clip in silicon nitride ceramic points out the need to have CAD, CAM and CNC capability at high resolution—plus the commitment to pull it all together.
Qualifying for Medical Work: Advice from a da Vinci Shop
12/28/2009 Production Machining: Swiss shop with heavy medical experience shares how to get and keep medical customers.
Micro-Drilling Calls for Considerations
11/18/2009 Production Machining: “Tiny” usually comes to mind when the term “micro” is used. So it is easy to assume that micromachining equates to very small parts found in the medical and electronics manufacturing industries.

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Overview Of:
Medical Machining

Medical Machining refers to all of the CNC machining related to surgical implants, orthotic devices and medical instruments. Various medical parts involve various challenges, but certain machining challenges in particular are common among medical parts. They include: ■ Small-scale machining or micromachining, because implanted devices often consist of very tiny components ■ Machining titanium, a material often used in medical devices because of its non-reactivity with the body ■ Machining plastics, because certain plastics also have this advantage ■ Custom machining, because some medical components can only be machined to specifications tailored to a particular patient’s body ■ Efficient small-batch machining, because new medical devices are developed quickly and refined through many iterations, making it necessary for machine shops to responsively provide prototype parts Medical Machining tends to be almost exclusively outsourced machining, with very little machining ever done by the OEM developing and marketing the medical device or product. This means that one additional challenge for shops that wish to participate in this market is to build, advance and maintain relationships with medical-industry customers in need of machining work.