Precision Laser Cutting Drives Innovation in the Medical Industry
Precision laser cutting was born in the automotive and aerospace fields, but it’s found a new home in the medical industry. The melding of technology and medical science is happening at a time when innovation is needed more than ever.
By 2020, Deloitte analysts say that global health care spending will exceed $8.7 trillion annually. Demand for affordable and accessible health care is at an all time high. In most countries, medical care consumes more than 10 percent of the GDP. Whether there’s a need for more hospital beds or more medical professionals, increasing demand diminishes available resources. Technology is a promising solution to this urgent problem.
Solutions for Meeting Global Health Care Demand
Government officials, corporate leaders and citizens around the world must find new ways to provide health care services that are better, cheaper and faster. Technologies like precision laser cutting overcome this classic paradox, and they have the ability to greatly improve efficiency and the standard of care.
Private investors like those who are funding new health care projects in China realize that they can leverage technology to accomplish their goals. Increasing efficiency is one of the most effective ways to control health care costs. That’s why laser cutting is such a valuable innovation.
Advantages of Precision Laser Cutting
Taking a vital part of the medical industry in the 21st century, precision laser cutting allows engineers to maximize the benefits of specialized surgical-grade materials. Innovative shape-memory metals and synthetic products overcome unforeseen patient-specific factors that would traditionally increase the risk of complications.
Product Design and Development
During the product development phase, biomedical engineers create and refine unique production-ready designs. Laser cutting equipment is fast, and it accommodates short and long production runs for OEM and contract projects. With on-site quality control laboratories, a laser cutting company can effectively and quickly evaluate the device, including the materials, cutting patterns and heat-affected zones.
Precision laser cutting shortens the time-to-market while meeting quality, accuracy and safety standards. This is a substantial advantage. New devices could be saving lives and increasing the success of invasive surgeries rather than awaiting lengthy approvals. Businesses already use lasers to produce medical devices, but the technology could be used on a wider scale.
Medical Applications for Laser Cutting
Today, specialized lasers make catheters and medical devices that treat the world’s most common and deadliest illnesses. Roughly half of all health care spending goes toward fighting cancer, cardiovascular diseases and chronic respiratory illnesses.
Physicians use strong, thin and flexible catheters and stents to diagnose and treat these conditions. For example, ultrasonic catheters distribute chemotherapy drugs to localized areas during cancer treatments. Many life-saving procedures wouldn’t be possible without the manufacturing systems that produce these sophisticated instruments.
The Future of Precision Laser Cutting
Precision laser cutting makes it easier for companies to turn concepts into functional medical devices that help patients worldwide. Increased use of laser cutting has contributed to double-digit growth in the medical equipment sector. However, many more opportunities exist for incorporating advanced materials and creating innovative medical devices for new diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Along with 3-D printing and other technologies, laser cutting is changing the way that health care corporations develop medical devices.