AUTOMATION SYSTEMS:

Stent Manufacturing

Intec designs and builds custom automation equipment for stent manufacturing processes, including stent forming, winding, segment assembly, ultrasonic cleaning, alignment, measurement and automated handling.

Through our Galway engineering operation, Intec brings experience developing equipment for miniature stent components, continuous wire patterns, coated and uncoated stents, and precision mandrel-based processes.

 

Engineering Around the Challenges of Stent Manufacturing


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Stent manufacturing involves more than controlling an individual machine operation. Small component dimensions, stent geometry, part orientation and the interaction between manufacturing steps all influence equipment design.

For example, miniature crown-shaped segments must be aligned during assembly. Continuous wire patterns require strut alignment during winding, while automated cleaning requires controlled movement of stent carriers through multiple solutions.

Intec develops equipment around these application-specific requirements, considering how the stent is formed, positioned, measured and handled throughout the manufacturing process.

See Our Stent Automation in Action

 

To the left is an example of a stent assembly automation build.  

Intec Automation has developed custom manufacturing equipment for the following stent processes:

  • Stent Forming: Equipment for forming stent patterns from continuous wire. Struts are formed in a linear pattern before the stent is wound around a mandrel into its cylindrical shape. The struts are aligned during winding for subsequent welding.

  • Automated Stent Segment Assembly: Custom equipment for automatically assembling miniature, crown-shaped stent segments onto mandrels. Our project experience includes handling segments approximately 2 mm in diameter and 1 mm in height, with automated positioning and crown alignment during assembly.

  • Stent Winding: Machines for winding continuous stent patterns onto mandrels while aligning struts for subsequent welding operations.

  • Automated Ultrasonic Stent Cleaning: Fully automated cleaning equipment that transfers stent carriers through three different processing solutions held in ultrasonic baths. Our project experience includes systems handling carriers containing 100 stents each, with automated movement between cleaning stages.

  • Stent Measurement: Custom measurement equipment developed to measure stents during forming operations. These systems address measurement requirements associated with the stent-forming process.

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Experience Across the Stent Manufacturing Process

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Intec is part of Machine Solutions, whose medical-device manufacturing portfolio includes dedicated stent crimping, stent loading and related stent-processing technologies.

Machine Solutions developed its segmental compression technology specifically for stent processing and offers stent crimping equipment ranging from R&D and pilot-production systems to automated manufacturing workcells.

Through Machine Solutions and its MSI equipment portfolio, manufacturers can also access:

  • Benchtop and R&D/pilot-production stent crimping equipment
  • Automated stent crimping workcells
  • Stent loading systems
  • Marker band positioning equipment
  • Radial force testing
  • Stent securement testing

Discuss Your Stent Manufacturing Process

Whether you're evaluating automation for forming, winding, assembly, cleaning, measurement or handling, our engineers can discuss your process requirements and the equipment approach needed for your application.

Contact Intec Automation today to discuss how our team can support your next stent manufacturing project.