Nondestructive ultrasonic quality testing of endovascular devices

Abstract

Endovascular medical devices such as catheters are composed of multiple thermal plastic components joined by buttwelding. High quality joining of components is required to ensure patient safety. The current practice for assuring quality is limited to process validation and destructive testing. An ultrasonic system for endovascular weld inspection was developed to detect faults (porosity and contamination) post welding in polyamide (Pebax-72D). Results from angled ultrasonic measurements were compared to micro-CT and found to correlate well with weld quality as a potential nondestructive index for 100% in-line verification of the joining process.