Manufacturing Process Of EXPO-MED

Surgical instruments manufacturing is based mainly on Hand skill work. The master craftsmen
spend their lives to learn the art and then produce world class instruments.

Expo-Med use the material in production is as under:

Raw Material


First stage is the selection of material for a particular item keeping in view the required
specifications. As discussed in my first post majority of the surgical instruments are
manufactured from different Stainless steel grades. These grades for particular range of
instruments can be found in standards as given as under:

German Stainless Steel 440A
Japanese Stainless Steel AISI 320
French Stainless Steel
Pakistani Stainless Steel
HRC48-52 depends on the requirement of our customers and cutting of tools required.


More description of the material used is as under:






Stainless Steel

The majority of Expo-Med Instruments are manufactured from Stainless Steel.
Stainless steel is not truly stainless but rather a highly corrosion and rust-resistant alloy.
The metal is extremely strong and durable and more importantly has a characteristic ability to
form protective or from Passivation layers.

Steel is composed primarily of iron. The other components are as follows:

Carbon 0.17-0.25%
Silicon 1.0%
Manganese 1.0%
Phosphorous 0.045%
Sulphur 0.043%
Chromium 12.0-14.0%


Stainless Steel Grade

Magnetic Stainless Steels

AISI 410 /410X: Used for Gripping Instruments like Forceps, Tweezers, Dressing forceps,
retractors etc.

AISI 420A : Used for Cutting instruments like Bone Rongeurs, Chisels, Gouges, scissors with
carbide inserts and Needle Holders etc.

AISI 420B: Used for High grade cutting instruments like Scissors, Bone Rongeurs etc.

Non Magnetic Stainless Steel

AISI 304: Used for Cannula, Clamps, Holders, Spreaders, suction tubes etc.
Appropriate selection of the material helps in achieving the intended output of the
manufacturing processes and the final required specifications.
Care Instructions, Section 12. A12


Tungsten Carbide



Tungsten carbide TC an alloy of tungsten and carbon is used in the manufacturing process of
Expo-Med Instruments as needle holders, scissors, pin cutters, pliers and wire tightness mainly
for Orthodontics. Since the TC is harder than the steel used in needles, pins and wires it results
in instruments with exceptional durability. Usually the TC is soldered or welded to the jaws or
working ends of instruments. TC inserts that are soldered can be separated from the
instrument and replaced when they become worn. TC that is welded to the stainless steel
cannot be separated, and therefore is not replaceable.

Titanium


Titanium is becoming more widely used, particularly in the manufacture of implantation devices
used to repair fractures, e.g., plates and screws. Titanium is an appealing choice for implants
because of its proven biocompatibility. Titanium made instruments is of high cost













Manufacturing Stages:

Manufacturing stages fallowed by Expo-Med Instruments for the production of Surgical
Instruments are:

1) Forging: This is a simply a process for shaping metal parts through compressive forces
either Hot or in Cold state. There are two types of forging processes involved in surgical
instruments manufacturing i.e. Hand forging for small quantities orders and
Hammer Forgings for bulk quantities.



2) Press work: After getting a crude shape impression in a piece of metal the excess
material around that shape is cut off (trimmed) to get more desirable shape in the form
of forgings.

3) Milling: Milling is a material removal process, which can create a variety of features on a
part by cutting away the unwanted material by machining. Through milling, different
features such as serrations, Ratchets, Male & Female box cuttings, different types of
grooves etc. are produced in surgical instruments.





4) Grinding / Filing: These are material removing processes using different types of
grinding wheels and files. This is a very critical stage in the instruments manufacturing
because here the base for the general shape is produced using different types of gauges
and the initial settings are done.


5) Heat Treatment: Heat treatment is done to change the instruments physical and
mechanical properties without changing the original shape and size like Annealing is
done to soften the material and Hardening is done to Produce Hardness and
Tempering is done to produce toughness in the instruments. Thus heat treating is a
very useful process to help other manufacturing processes and also improve product
performance by increasing strength or provides other desirable characteristics



6) Chemical Treatment: The main purpose of chemical treatment is to clean the surface of
the steel parts and if carried out properly, they all increase the
corrosionresistance.The main processes used in the surgical instruments manufacturing
includes:



7) Pickling
It is usually done after the heat treatment process to remove the scale formed because of
oxidation. Dilute Sulfuric Acid / Nitric Acid is used for this purpose.
8) Passivation
The passivation is performed when free iron, oxide scale, rust, iron particles, metal chips
adversely affect the stability of the surface.
Passivation consists of immersing stainless steel instruments in a solution of nitric or citric acid
and sodium dichromate, dissolving the imbedded iron particles and restoring the original
corrosion-resistant surface by forming a thin, transparent oxide film.


9) Electro polishing

Passivation also is accomplished by electro polishing. Electro polishing is an electrochemical
process that is a super passivator of stainless steel and results in a more passive surface than
the other methods mentioned above.
The metal, which is electro polished gives a bright surface and appearance of metal looks fine.
The second advantage is that some burr is also removed in this process. Most commonly



phosphoric and sulphuric acids are used in conjunction with a high current density to clean and
smooth (by metal removal) the surface of the steel.



10) Fixing: At this stage setting is done to align the instruments with proper functioning.








11) Hand Skilled Polishing: This is the most tough job and required a very professional staff.
These are the metal finishing processes to produce different types of appearances like
mirror or dull. Different abrasives are used on a work wheel to finalize the finish.

Following are the types of polishing




This is Mirror Polish This is Satin Finishing Polish



This is Titanium Coated/Paper Coated This is 24k Gold Plated
There are so many other textures available






12) Ultrasonic Wash

In this process we process the finished instruments in trays kept under
scratch resistant surface in trays to give them top cleaned look and dirt off the
instruments from any type of polishing material and dust particles or stains.




13) Final Inspection, Packing & Then Dispatch.

While quality is a concern at all points of the manufacturing and crafting process, it is at this
stage that we demand a final inspection which checks the functionality critical dimensions and
surface conditions of the instrument. This inspection is performed by our manufacturers. The
instruments are checked for desired specifications and sent for final inspection and testing
before packing.