Radiopaque Clad Wire Improves Stent Visibility

The clad composite wire is less expensive than solid wire with marker bands, and can be manufactured to precise original equipment manufacturing (OEM) specifications and supplied on spools. The premium medical-grade wires do not flake, blister, or delaminate.

The wire is available in diameters ranging from 0.05 to 1.52mm, and can incorporate gold, platinum-iridium, tantalum, tantalum-tungsten, and similar alloys bonded to high strength wires such as 316LVM stainless steel, nitinol, and MP35N, with a cladding thickness of 2% or more. Wires can include precious metal cores or claddings, such as platinum for oxidation-corrosion resistance and biocompatibility, gold for contact resistance, tantalum for radiopacity under fluoroscopy, and silver or conductivity. Examples of medical-grade clad wires include Tantalum cored stainless steel and Gold clad nitinol.

Typical uses include wires or ribbons for cardiac rhythm management (CRM) devices, pacemakers, leads and heart shocking coils, defibrillators, neurostimulation devices, stents, catheters, and guidewires, biosensors and monitors, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices, brachytherapy seeds, and implantable conductors, among others.

Clad-wires feature a complete metallurgical bond between layers, providing a highly reliable and cost effective alternative to solid wire, while at the same time offering higher ductility and greater formabilty than filled or plated wire.