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3D-Micromac AG international > Applications > Medical Applications

Applications of Laser Micromachining in Medical Technology

The manufacturing of medical instruments and implants is characterised by smaller and smaller structures as well as the demand for highest precision in terms of surface quality, absence of burr, and materials residues. While established fabrication technologies increasingly face their limits, laser micromachining provides optimum preconditions for the required quality and precision since machining is accomplished in a contactless fashion and the extent of the heat-affected zone is very small.

Important applications stem from the ranges of micro drilling, fine blanking, micro structuring, and micro engraving.


Laser Micro Drilling

Due to their excellent focusability, lasers are almost perfectly suited for the drilling of very fine holes. For the drilling of plastics, excimer lasers are utilised while the machining of metals and semiconductors is accomplished with DPSS laser sources or picosecond lasers. Blind holes as well as clearance holes can be obtained. A particularly large development potential is attached to the usage of novel helical drilling heads for generating of micro holes (diameter > 50 µm) with precisely controllable taper in up to 2 mm thick metal sheets. With the advent of the latter technology, entirely new perspectives for design and functionalisation of cannulas, nozzles, implants, and micro filters are opened.

Laser Micro Cutting
For laser micro cutting of surgical instruments (for exam-ple for minimal-invasive surgery) and implants, foils and wires can be cut on the 10 µm scale. Moreover, foils and tubes can be machined with cutting widths well below 20 µm, microstructures and 3D objects possessing a resolution of just a few microns can be generated. Capabilities are to be found in the cutting of plastics masks or metal stencils.

For machining of metals and ceramics, solid-state lasers are suited best, while plastics and glasses are commonly machined with Excimer or CO2 lasers.

Laser Micro Structuring and Selective Ablation

Lasers are, based on the outstanding ability to narrowly focus them, capable of extremely precisely and even selectively ablate materials from metals, ceramics, polymers or multilayer stacks. Machining in this range is preferably done with short-pulsed or ultrashort pulsed lasers. The latter tools allow for the generation of smallest possible microstructures (< 15 µm), the fabrication of 3D objects, and layer-by-layer ablation of coatings. These technologies are utilised for the removal of plastic coating from surgical instruments or for the manufacturing of catheters.


Using this technology, superficial structures in the micron range can be also realised, for example for the optimisation of the ingrowing behaviour of implants or in microfluidics.

Laser Micro Engraving

Advantages over conventional processes include:

  • Minimised marking size
  • Fraud resistant and indelible labelling
  • Marking is free of corrosion and biocompatible
  • Prevention of micro cracks

For implants and medical instruments, it is mandatory to generate a micro engraving free of bulging. Moreover, it has to be made sure that no germs of other materials residues are generated or dissolved. Especially the high-quality inner laser engraving readily meets these requirements.