Evaluation of Pre-Oxide Guide Wires to Reduce Teflon Coating Damage

Abstract

Abbott Vascular Barceloneta, a guide wire manufacturer, has an overall scrap rate of 14%, of which approximately 50% is due to Teflon coating damage. An engineering study was performed to identify if new material with a pre oxide layer could be used to manufacture guide wires without cable breakage and if it would produce less Teflon coating damage. The study found that all cables were manufactured without problems and that the experimental lot showed a 10.1% less scrap rate than the control group. This suggests that the oxide layer in the bare guide wire improves the Teflon's adhesion to the wire. Further studies must be made to validate this new material fully. Still, according to the results of this study, this material could make the manufacturing process more efficient and increase output. Key Terms ⎯ Adhesion, Manufacturing, Scrap Rate, Surface Finish.