Yokowo Co., Ltd. is shifting its medical micro precision processing parts domain into high gear and has recently commercialized and launched the “Round Processing Marker Band” for catheters in full scale in June.
Our Company’s Approach and Market Trends
Since our decision to enter the medical micro precision processing parts business in June 2009, our company has created business plans by focusing on coils and selected cut products that are components of catheters etc. that require refined metal processing.
The market for medical catheters and endoscope instruments is expanding yearly due to the aging population, increase of lifestyle-related diseases and cancer, and the increase in the demands for less invasive treatments (*2) in order to improve patients’ QOL (*1).
In light of this situation, our company has supplied domestic medical instrument manufacturers with various refined cut parts made of metals, including tubes, rings, coils such as "Coil", "Core wire for guidewires", and "Radiopaque Marker Band(Marker Band)" for catheters and has now launched a new product, "Round Processing Marker Band".
Overview of the New Product
A marker ring is a part that is attached to the distal end of the catheter and is used to confirm the location of the catheter in the blood vessel (the affected site in the case of a balloon catheter) by using its radiopaque property to X-rays. In order to maintain its radiopaque property, noble metals such as platinum (Pt) or platinum–iridium (Pt-Ir) are normally used.
The main characteristic of our new "Round Processing Marker Band" is that both ends of the marker ring are round processed, which decreases the damage to the area that comes into contact with the catheter or balloon and can also decrease the damage to the blood vessel when used in areas that come into direct contact with blood vessels.
In terms of size, as with previous products, it is possible to manufacture types with an outer diameter of over 0.2mm, wall thickness of 20μm, and can maintain enough internal diameter for use with fine catheters.
Specifications of the New Product
An overview of the specifications of the new product "Round Processed Marker Band" is as follows:
■ Material : Pt, PtIr, etc. (Please ask about Au, SUS etc.)
■ Dimension (length) : over 0.2mm
■ Dimension (outer diameter): over 0.2mm
■ Dimension (wall thickness) : over 0.02mm
(Please ask for outer diameters over 2.0mm)
Close-up image of the exterior
Future Plans
Regarding the supply system of this product, we can support any request from our clients, including those for trial products for research/review and mass production. We have kept the price down to an additional 10% to 20% as compared to our previous product (the type that has removed only the burrs on the outer peripheral surfaces).
With the launch of this product, our marker ring product line is as follows:
- round processed marker ring
- marker ring with burr processing on the end
- standard marker ring (type that has removed only the burrs on the outer peripheral surfaces)
*1: QOL: Quality Of Life
This is usually defined as the quality of life of the patient after a medical treatment; here, we especially emphasize on the patient’s happiness and level of satisfaction from the alleviation of the pain and the disorder.
*2: Less invasive treatment: A treatment that aims to reduce the stress of the surgery of the patient.