Platinum-iridium alloy is chosen for marker bands due to its exceptional properties, which are crucial for medical applications.
Why Platinum-Iridium Alloy?
- Superior Stability: It is one of the most chemically, mechanically, and electrically stable alloy materials.
- Biocompatibility: The alloy meets biocompatibility standards, meaning it is safe for use within the human body and avoids introducing harmful substances.
- High Performance: It features high strength, high elasticity, and low contact resistance.
- Excellent Radiopacity: Platinum-iridium alloys exhibit excellent radiopacity, making them ideal as X-ray fluoroscopic markers for guiding interventional procedures.
- Corrosion and Oxidation Resistance: As a high-temperature alloy, it offers exceptional corrosion resistance, oxidation resistance, wear resistance, and high-temperature creep resistance.
- Dimensional Precision: Given that interventional procedures use minimally invasive catheters with extremely fine diameters, marker bands require extremely small dimensions (millimeter or micrometer scale), ultra-thin thickness (often tens of micrometers), high dimensional accuracy, and excellent surface finish and plasticity. Platinum-iridium alloys can be manufactured to these precise specifications.
Manufacturing Process at ALB Materials Inc.
ALB Materials Inc. produces platinum-iridium alloy with uniform composition and high density through a meticulous process:
- Melting: The alloy is uniformly melted to ensure consistent composition and high density.
- Forming: This material undergoes drilling, followed by multiple stages of hot rolling, cold rolling, and drawing to form microtubes that meet precise outer diameter and wall thickness specifications.
- Cutting: Tubes are then cut to size for specific applications, yielding platinum-iridium alloy rings. Advanced cutting techniques and surface treatments ensure burr-free edges.
This fully integrated in-house production ensures complete control over the entire supply chain, allowing for the customization of platinum-iridium marker bands (standard, punch, or “C” profile), sheets, wires, shaped parts, or developing belts, and specialty rings in various dimensions, all meeting stringent precision tolerances.
Here’s an image of a platinum-iridium alloy marker band:
