Patent ID: 9744625
Date: 2017-08-29
CPC Classifications: A61F,B23K

Claim:
1. A method of laser machining a substrate to form a stent, comprising: providing a thin-walled polymer substrate; laser machining the thin-walled polymer substrate with a laser beam with a pulse width and wavelength that cuts through the wall to form structural elements having a machined edge surface, wherein the laser beam modifies the substrate in a surface region adjacent to the machined edge surface, wherein the modifications include voids, cracks, variation in modulus of the polymer with distance from the edge surface, or a combination thereof, and characterized by an average laser power per pulse of the laser beam being 0.5-4 W, and by selecting the pulse width and wavelength so that the voids or cracks are present at no greater than a depth of 2 microns or the modulus converges at no greater than 4 microns.