
Catheter Design
ANV Laser Industries offers unique delivery system and catheter design services for a wide variety of applications:
- Imaging catheters
- Ablation devices
- Biopsy devices
- EP Mapping catheters
- Heart valve delivery systems
- Neurovascular micro catheters
- Introducer sheaths
- Steerable catheters & sheaths
- Stent delivery catheters
- Design validation & verification and testing
We provide an end-to-end service for complex delivery systems as well as for catheters with integrated electronic modules such as sensors and optical components. ANV’s catheter design and development services include prototyping and transfer to production of:
- Multi-lumen catheters with or without braids.
- Multi-durometer shafts.
- Varying pitch on single shaft.
- Deflectable & steerable shafts.
- Steering control handles.
- Tipping, necking and other forming technologies.
- Assembly and integration.
- Verification and testing tools.
Breaking the catheter design length barrier
ANV Lasers has integrated into its precision laser cutting machines a specialized visual system that compensates for regripping deviations, allowing the machine to always return to exactly the same location. This innovation has effectively removed all barriers to the length of the catheters that we design and produce.
Why NiTi catheters
The Nitinol (NiTi) alloy’s shape-memory and super-elastic characteristics has made NiTi tubing a popular raw material for the production of high-performance, ultra-thin catheters for medical applications. It offers the best compromise between the flexibility of engineered plastics and the strength of traditional metals.
Guidewires or catheter shafts made from Nitinol provide optimal kink resistance and a soft end-user feel. Micro- or nano-radius nitinol catheter shafts can be designed with varying degrees of trackability and torque, allowing precise placement and delivery through the most tortuous paths without losing torqueability and pushability. The tubing lumen can be used to deliver a diagnostic or therapeutic media to a remote localized site or as a carrier for another device.
The advantages of NiTi catheters can be summarized as follows:
- Super-elastic behavior, providing:
- Large recoverable deformation
- Low permanent set or residual deformation
- High plateau stresses and ultimate tensile strength
- Its super-elastic temperature is compatible with the body temperature range
- High potential energy storage capability
- Corrosion resistance similar to stainless steel and titanium alloys
- Biocompatibility