DC Integrated Series: Automated Catheter Drill and Cut Systems

SYNEO’s Automated Catheter Drill and Cut systems allow engineers to produce finished, drilled and precision cut-to-length catheter components in a continuous and fully automated manufacturing process. Raw materials can be presented to the machine manually or automatically, in either spool or stick form, with the corresponding SYNEO Accu-Feed systems. All critical parameters are controlled via recipe, and because the system drills the catheter in a user-defined hole pattern before they are cut to length, it allows finished parts to be cut and drilled from as short as 1mm in length to over one meter. This sequence of operations provides greatly reduced manufacturing costs by processing parts in a single step that would typically require several machines and associated processes.

When used with SYNEO cutting tools, manufactured using SYNEO’s proprietary manufacturing process, the resultant hole quality is unmatched. The automatic hole-plug ejector pin system and coordinated hole-plug blow off and vacuum collection system cleanly removes scrap material. Full control and precision are achieved by means of the color LCD touchscreen HMI, pattern memory and adjustable speed and feed controls.

The catheter drill and cut machines are available in 3-axis and 4-axis configurations and can be combined with a range of off-the-shelf automated input and output systems, as well as the addition of in-line inspection and pass/fail binning. These machines integrate catheter punching, catheter skiving, and cut to length procesess into a single bench-top solution with additional opportunities for automation with downstream catheter tipping modules.

SYNEO Accu-Drill and Accu-Punch equipment solutions are advanced, space-efficient solutions for drilling burr-free holes in a wide range of single and multi-lumen tubing materials such as Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), Low-density polyethylene (LDPE), PEEK, Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and Pebax®. Accu-Drill and Accu-Punch machine solutions are heavily utilized in clean room manufacturing environments where catheter hole drilling and hole punching applications exist. SYNEO hole making solutions are capable of holes as small as .005”, and offer capabilities such as multi-lumen location, off-center skiving, hole quality inspection, and drilling holes between cross-sections of braided material.

Enhanced features such as multi-lumen (or specific-chamber) location, hole visual inspection and plug collection enhance quality outcomes and efficiency for operators in both research & development and medical device production environments. SYNEO’s multi-lumen location feature allows operators to target specific hole partners for individual lumens, allowing advanced configurations for skiving, punching and drilling while reducing risk of cross-communication between other lumens (tubing chambers).