Resonetics Nabs New Laser Micromachining Patent

According to officials from Nashua, N.H.-based Resonetics, ablating layers or coatings in a medical device or diagnostic product requires precision, reliability and consistency. In that persuit, the company has received a patent for laser technology that can be tuned to selectively remove one layer without affecting the underlying layer.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently issued a Notice of Allowance for Resonetics’ new patent for “Precision Laser Ablation.” The patent addresses a frequent challenge in micromachining: selectively removing one or more layers of a multilayer structure by laser ablation. The patent, according to the company, covers a method of continuous remote monitoring of the ablation plasma plume to automatically discriminate one layer from another, and stop ablation before damaging the underlying layer. This method can be applied to laser machining by step-and-repeat, beam or target scanning, as well as stripping or skiving of wires and catheters.

“There is tremendous pressure in the life-sciences industry to improve product performances while simultaneously driving down costs,” said Tom Burns, CEO of Resonetics. “This invention improves the manufacturing yields of medical devices and diagnostic products, as our closed loop technology compensates for geometric and coating variations of wires, catheters and wafer substrates while still guaranteeing tight tolerances on the order of a single micron. As is true of the other five patents issued to Resonetics, we strive to identify innovative solutions that will enable our customers to increase reliability, lower the cost of their innovative new products, and deliver improved healthcare globally.”

Resonetics provides laser micromachining contract manufacturing services for medical device and diagnostic manufacturing and other applications requiring precision laser processing.