Empowering healthcare innovation through cutting-edge medical catheter technology
A catheter is a slender, medical-grade tube, essential for various medical interventions. These devices are strategically placed in the body to treat diseases or aid in surgical procedures, reaching areas such as cavities, ducts, vessels, the brain, skin, or fatty tissues depending on medical requirements.
In contemporary healthcare, catheters are invaluable, facilitating everything from diagnostic processes to life-saving treatments. Avicenna, a brand of Paragon Medical is a key player in the catheter manufacturing industry, offering cutting-edge capabilities in developing this critical medical component technology. With a dedication to quality and over four decades of experience, Avicenna has become the leading global contract manufacturer, providing customized solutions to meet the dynamic needs of the healthcare sector.
The growth in the global catheter market is mainly driven by an increasing incidence of cardiovascular diseases, a rising demand for minimally invasive surgeries, and a surge in chronic conditions like hypertension and diabetes.
Applications of medical catheters range from Electrophysiology used to study and map the heart's electrical activity, aiding in the diagnosis of arrhythmias to Structural Heart devices where cardiac catheterization is used in various procedures including angioplasties and stent placements or minimally invasive aortic valve replacements. Other use cases include severe pulmonary embolisms where a catheter is employed to direct thrombolysis to dissolve clots as well as providing access for administering treatments directly into central veins.
The catheter manufacturing process is a highly specialized requiring expertise and highest precision for the following steps:
Laser Processing: Precision is paramount in creating features crucial to a catheter's functionality. Techniques such as laser ablation and metal tube cutting ensure exactness, essential for creating openings, windows, and holes, as well as cutting tubes for internal support and manoeuvrability.
Bonding and Assembly: The assembly of medical device components like connectors, valves, and balloons is conducted with meticulous care. For instance, cardiac ablation catheters are assembled from extruded tubes with multiple lumens and small wire electrodes, which are laser welded to fine conductor wires. These are then integrated within extruded sleeves and connected to an electrical connector via an outer handle.
Quality Control and Testing: Rigorous testing, including visual inspections and mechanical and electrical evaluations, ensures that catheters meet and exceed safety and quality standards.
Senior Product Development Engineer Shruthi Mohan summarizes: "Avicenna has a wide range of catheter manufacturing and processing capabilities like cable harness, fine wire soldering and design of high-density connectors that gives us the ability to develop turnkey solutions for various catheter needs. We are committed to collaborating with customers to build products that they envision. The positive feedback from our customers and physicians on patient impact is our motivation to keep innovating".
Read more about our Catheter Assembly capabilities here.