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Medinol’s 2-dimensional quality control phase in unique in several respects:
- it is performed very early in the manufacturing process
- it inspects both side of the flat panel
- it facilitate the use of both manual and automated optical inspection
- it is a comprehensive process, covering 100% of each stents surface
It is the multi-dimensional nature that allows us to perform such a robust quality control phase so early on in the manufacturing process. This phase takes place before the stents take on their final tubular shape, at a phase where limited resources have been invested in them. Thus, we are able to adopt the highest quality standards offered by inspection technology.
The ability to access both sides of the lattice means we are able to inspect both the inner and outer sides of the stent. This is particularly important because both sides are crucial to the clinical function of the stent. The outer side is in direct contact with the arteries, while the inner side is exposed to the blood flow in it.
The similarity between our manufacturing process and that used in the integrated circuits industry also allows us to use quality control processes similar to the ones used in that high-precision industry. Thus, in addition to manual inspection, which is very common in our industry, we are able to apply a unique Automated Visual Inspection (AVI) procedure that have been developed by our engineers and perfected over the last 16 years. In the AVI procedure a computer compares each and every section of the flat panel with the respective section in the original design.
In addition to the unparalleled degree of accuracy achieved by using the AVI procedure, it is also a comprehensive process that automatically and systematically covers the entire surface of the panel and all the stent lattices of which it is comprised.
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