Title: Laser surface texturing of medical needles for friction control

Authors: Peidong Han; Jaegu Kim; Kornel F. Ehmann; Jian Cao

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, USA ' Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, 156, Gajeongbuk-Ro, Uyseong-Gu, Daejeon 305-343, South Korea ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, USA ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, USA

Abstract: Surface texturing has been used to create micro-dimples or micro-channels on medical needles to increase the visibility of ultrasound-guided percutaneous procedures. However, micro-features usually increase the friction between the needle and biological tissue. Higher insertion forces lead to patient discomfort and undesired needle placement errors. The present work investigates the friction between the textured needles and soft tissue. The purpose is to understand the friction behaviour between a textured hard surface and soft materials and to identify texture patterns that would minimise the friction of needle insertion without compromising its ultrasound visibility. Laser surface texturing was performed on medical needles to generate an array of micro-channels with a variety of channel widths, area densities, and channel orientations. A set of friction tests was carried out using an especially designed setup for needle insertion. The effects of channel width, area density, and channel orientation on friction force were experimentally investigated. It was found that the tribological characteristics between a textured hard surface and soft tissue greatly depend on the size, density, and orientation of the micro-features.

Keywords: laser surface texturing; LST; echogenic needles; ultrasound visibility; medical needles; friction control; textured needles; soft tissue; texture patterns; needle insertion; micro-channels; friction force; tribology; medical devices.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMMS.2013.056449

International Journal of Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems, 2013 Vol.6 No.3, pp.215 - 228

Received: 10 Jul 2012
Accepted: 23 Sep 2012

Published online: 12 Jul 2014 *

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