Unique Capabilities to Heat Treat Medical Devices

Unique furnace capabilities and procedures enable Solar Atmospheres, specialists in vacuum heat treating and brazing, to process a broad range of medical devices including heart guide wires and fragile stents.

To handle the extremely fragile stents, Solar’s specialized procedures include surgical gloves and fixturing tools to protect the parts.  An all-metal hot zone provides an ultra pure heat treating environment in which the stents are vacuum annealed.

Heart guide wires need to be kept straight and clean.  Solar provides long vacuum furnaces, up to 24 feet, to stress relieve the wires.  The process imparts stiffness to the guide wires so that a 90° turn in the doctor’s hand equals a 90° turn at the other end of the wire.  Solar’s fixturing enables multiple bundles of wires to be run in a single cycle for production efficiency and handling protection.  The parts are processed in a deep vacuum for the brightest possible finish.