Engineering Coils for Medical Innovation
This case study highlights how our engineering expertise and coil manufacturing capabilities enabled a medical device OEM to overcome a critical design challenge, delivering optimized performance and reliability for life-saving applications.
Challenge
The customer, a leading OEM in minimally invasive devices, needed ultra-precise metal coils that would enable greater device flexibility without compromising structural integrity. The coils had to meet stringent performance requirements for durability, radiopacity, and biocompatibility—essential factors in medical procedures.
Key challenges included:
- Designing coils with precise inner and outer diameters within tight tolerances
- Achieving superior flexibility while maintaining consistent mechanical
strength - Ensuring radiopacity for visibility under fluoroscopy
- Delivering coils suitable for cleanroom integration and assembly into finished
devices
Solution
Our engineering team implemented a multi-step precision manufacturing process, leveraging decades of coil-making expertise to address the challenges:
Advanced Winding Processes: Custom coil winding techniques were developed to achieve the exact pitch and dimensional tolerances required by the customer’s application.
Heat Treatment & Stress Relief: Proprietary thermal processes were
applied to enhance flexibility and durability while eliminating residual
stresses.
Material Expertise: Worked with stainless steel and platinum-tungsten alloys to
balance strength, radiopacity, and biocompatibility.
Cleanroom Assembly: Coils were integrated into subassemblies within an
ISO-certified cleanroom, ensuring sterility and quality compliance for
medical use.
Capabilities Demonstrated
Micro Coil Winding: Ultra-fine wire coils manufactured with diameters as
small as 0.0015 inches, with strict tolerance control.
Precision Grinding: Grinding of wire prior to coiling to optimize consistency
and performance.
Custom Heat Treatment: Proprietary processes for improved flexibility and
minimized spring-back.
Cleanroom Manufacturing: Assembly of coils into medical subassemblies under ISO Class 7 conditions.
Radiopaque Alloys: Incorporation of platinum-iridium and tungsten materials for superior visualization during procedures.
Outcome
The final coil solution delivered:
- Optimized Flexibility – allowing device navigation through tortuous
anatomy - Superior Radiopacity – enabling visibility for precise placement
- Consistent Strength & Reliability – meeting the OEM’s durability standards
- Validated Cleanroom Assembly – ensuring compliance with medical device regulatory requirements
This successful collaboration not only solved the OEM’s immediate coil manufacturing challenge but also reinforced our position as a trusted partner for precision-engineered medical components.
