Breakthrough in Manufacturing Cardiovascular Stents

Raydiance Corporation, developer of the world’s first commercial-grade ultrafast laser, has announced the introduction of Smart Light MD™ — a software-controlled ultrafast laser for manufacturing cardiovascular stents and other medical micro-devices. The Raydiance system enables the machining of features in stent materials without the introduction of heat to areas peripheral to the target, thereby eliminating numerous post-processing steps normally required with traditional thermal laser manufacturing.

Raydiance recently demonstrated Smart Light MD™ by deploying it in an integrated workstation designed by stent manufacturing process expert Russell Denton. The Raydiance system was used to machine stents from raw Nitinol tubes (a shape-memory metal commonly used in cardiovascular stents).

“This is a very significant advance for stent manufacturing,” says Denton, vice president for A1 Laser International. “The Raydiance technology allows me to cut a stent and put it directly into the final polishing process. Previously, I used thermal lasers to cut the initial design and then had to take several additional steps to remove melted material and prepare it for final polishing. These steps take a lot of time and money, include hazardous chemicals and decrease yield. Smart Light MD™ eliminates those steps.”

“The medical device industry has been in the vanguard of advanced manufacturing techniques,” states Scott Davison, president of Raydiance. “Computer controlled, commercially reliable ultrafast laser technology now gives these innovators a powerful tool for manufacturing new products like tiny bioabsorbable stents that repair vessels and then dissolve over time.”

About Raydiance, Inc.
Raydiance is a next-generation laser company that has integrated fiber optic, computing and software technologies to create the world’s first accessible, commercial-grade ultrafast laser. Ultrafast lasers create pulses of light with extremely high peak power capable of ablating virtually any material with high precision and no heat. The company is focused on providing transformative, reliable and cost-effective solutions for the medical device, energy, biosciences, consumer electronics and defense technology markets.

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