Miniscule Medical Parts

Advanced EDM of Poway, Calif., micromachines some medical components so miniscule that 45,000 pieces fit in the palm of one's hand. The shop maintains typical accuracies within 0.0001 in. for such small parts and relies on Mitsubishi EDMs to do so.

Four FA10s, two 90CSs, two EA22s, and an EX8 run around the clock at Advanced. "Applications for our often microscopic parts include pace makers, defibrillators, and surgical instruments used in delicate eye and other surgeries. These parts are so small that we have to use microscopes and other special devices to even see them individually," says Norm Turoff, president of Advanced. "We produce such parts solely on the EDM machines. There are several different operations and processes involved, but from beginning to end, these parts are never touched by another machine."

The shop also designs and builds its own inhouse automation. "Automation lets us make parts we otherwise wouldn't be able to produce," explains Turoff.

In addition to machining medical components, the shop produces parts for the turbine industry. These include injector and nozzle components for engines. And, again, the shop relies on its Mitsubishi EDMs for all processes.