Titanium Grade 36 to Titanium Grade 1 weld on Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD)

Abstract

Finding cost reduction on medical devices production, a new Feedthrough array design will be implemented in an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator, incorporating glassed Feedthrough of Titanium Grade 36 in a ferrule with glass insulator. This design will be used in place of the brazed Feedthrough of Niobium Type 2 in a ferrule with sapphire as insulator utilized in legacy devices. The Titanium Grade 36 Feedthrough will be welded per Resistance Spot Welding to Interconnect Ribbons of Titanium Grade 1. Being the first time that will be used of Titanium Grade 36 as material on Feedthrough, this new weld will be analyzed and characterized to meet the device requirement and obtain the economic impact of the material change with a benefit of $18-20M NPV. The Design for Reliable Manufacturing method demonstrate that a robust characterization design can be development in order to meet the specification as implement the new FT array knowing all effected factors. Key Terms - Feedthrough, Niobium Type 2, Resistance Spot Welding, Titanium Grade 1, Titanium Grade 36.