JP6997920B2 - Pattern forming pipe, exposure system, etching system and etching method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a pattern forming pipe, an exposure system, an etching system and an etching method, and more particularly to a pattern forming pipe for manufacturing a stent or the like, an exposure system, an etching system and an etching method.

Conventionally, Patent Document 1 discloses a method of manufacturing a stent by etching in order to eliminate the demerits of adopting laser cutting. This method was selected from (a) the steps of coating the outer surface of the metal tubular member with a photosensitive resist to form a coated tubular member, and (b) the outer surface of the coated tubular member. At the same time as exposing the portion to the light source, the covered tubular member is placed in a device that shields another selected portion to form a partially exposed tubular member, and (c) the partially exposed portion. The tubular member was immersed in a negative resist developer to form a treated tubular member, and (d) the treated tubular member was treated by an electrochemical etching step and shielded from the light source. Includes a step of removing metal from selected portions of the tubular member.

Special Table 2002-511779 Publication No.

However, in the method for manufacturing a stent disclosed in Patent Document 1, even if the outer surface of a tubular member (cylindrical body) to be a stent is to be coated with a photosensitive resist material, it is difficult to accurately cover the outer surface. Certainly, it is not so difficult if a two-dimensional object is coated with a photosensitive resist material such as a circuit pattern of an electronic component, but since the tubular member is three-dimensional, it is accurately photosensitive. It is difficult to coat with a resist material.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to accurately transfer the mask pattern for etching to the tubular member.

The pattern forming pipe of the present invention for solving the above problems is
A transparent pattern-forming pipe in which a mask pattern corresponding to an opening pattern to be formed in a tubular body is formed on a wall portion and the tubular body is inserted without being displaced.

According to the present invention, if a tubular body is inserted into a pattern forming pipe and exposed to light, the mask pattern can be accurately transferred to the tubular body. Therefore, if the tubular body is subsequently etched, an accurately opened tubular body can be manufactured. The tubular body may be inserted for this pattern formation. Further, the tubular body can be any of a stent, a core wire, an endoscope cable, and an industrial spring.

Further, the tubular body exposure system of the present invention is used.
The above pattern forming pipe and
With some light sources located around the pipe,
To prepare for.

Further, the etching method for the tubular body of the present invention is:
A mask pattern corresponding to the opening pattern to be formed in the tubular body is formed in the wall portion, and the tubular body is inserted into a translucent pattern forming pipe without misalignment.
The pattern forming pipe into which the tubular body was inserted was exposed and exposed.
The tubular body in the exposed pattern-forming pipe was developed and
The developed tubular body is etched.

According to the present invention, if the pipe with the tubular body inserted is exposed to the pipe with a light source, the mask pattern can be accurately transferred to the tubular body. Therefore, by subsequently etching the tubular body, it is possible to manufacture a tubular body having an accurate opening design.

It is preferable to provide a sealing device for sealing the inner wall of the tubular body.

Further, it is preferable to include a liquid tank containing an etching solution in which the mask pattern is transferred using the pattern forming pipe and the tubular body sealed by the sealing device is impregnated.

Further, when the number of light sources is small, it is preferable to provide a rotating device for rotating the pipe.

It is explanatory drawing of the stent manufacturing method performed using the stent manufacturing apparatus of embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram of the stent manufacturing apparatus of embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the modification of the stent manufacturing apparatus of FIG.

10 Pipe 15 Mask pattern 20 Exposure device 30 Rotating device 40 Sealing device 50, 60 Liquid tank 100 Stent material

Embodiment of the invention

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a stent manufacturing method performed by using the stent material manufacturing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a stent material 100 as a stent and a translucent pipe 10 in which a mask pattern 15 corresponding to an opening pattern formed in the stent is formed on a wall portion.

Stents can be used for tubular parts such as blood vessels, trachea, esophagus, duodenum, large intestine, biliary tract, etc., these sizes vary, but are several mm to several cm in diameter and several cm to several tens of cm in length. Things are common.

As the stent material 100, metal or resin can be used. Examples of metals include magnesium, titanium, nickel, gold, platinum, 316L stainless steel, chromium, cobalt, aluminum, tantalum, tungsten, niobium, baradium, molybdenum, and alloys containing these. Examples of resins include synthetic resins such as polyolefins, polyamides, polyvinyl chlorides, polyphenylene sulfides, polycarbonates, polyethers and polymethylmethacrylates, and biodegradable properties such as polylactic acid, polyhydroxybutyrate, polyglycolic acid and polyεcaprolactone. Resin is mentioned.

The stent material 100 may be left exposed with a metal or the like, but may be selectively covered with an ePTFE membrane, a silicon membrane, a polyurethane membrane, a dacron membrane, a drug that suppresses cell proliferation, polylactic acid, or the like. As is known, a photosensitive substance such as silver iodide, silver bromide, or acrylic is applied to at least the outer surface of the stent material 100 by spraying, impregnating, or the like, before being inserted into the pipe 10.

At this time, if necessary, a coupling agent may be applied to the stent material 100 prior to the application of the photosensitive substance to improve the adhesion of the photosensitive substance. Further, it is preferable to solidify the photosensitive substance by subjecting the stent material 100 coated with the photosensitive substance to a prebaking treatment of heating at a temperature of about 100 ° C. to 400 ° C. for a predetermined time.

The pipe 10 is made of quartz glass, calcium fluoride, magnesium fluoride, acrylic glass, aluminosilicate glass, soda lime glass, low thermal expansion glass, silicic acid glass, acrylic resin and the like. When the mask pattern 15 is formed on the inner wall, the inner diameter of the pipe 10 may be substantially the same as the outer diameter of the stent material 100 in which the photosensitive substance is solidified on the surface. This is to prevent the pipe 10 and the stent material 100 from being displaced from each other during the exposure process described later, and to perform accurate pattern transfer. Therefore, the stent material 100 may be inserted into the pipe 10 by press fitting or the like.

The mask pattern 15 selectively causes the ultraviolet light emitted by the exposure apparatus 20 (FIG. 2) to reach the stent material 100, and is a pattern corresponding to the opening pattern of the stent, which is the final product. The method for forming the mask pattern 15 is not particularly limited, and any known plating method such as electrolytic plating, electroless plating, hot-dip plating, and vacuum vapor deposition may be adopted. The metal film formed by plating may have a thickness of about 0.5 μm to 5.0 μm, and nickel, chromium, copper, aluminum or the like can be used as the material thereof. The mask pattern 15 may be either a positive type or a negative type.

Further, the mask pattern 15 may be formed on the inner wall of the pipe 100 or on the outer wall. When the pipe 100 has a small diameter and is as short as 2 cm to 3 cm, it is possible to form the mask pattern 15 on the inner wall of the pipe 100. In this case, since the distance between the pipe 100 and the stent material 100 is almost zero, the resolution at the time of exposure can be increased. On the other hand, when the pipe 100 has a small diameter and a length exceeding 3 cm, it is difficult to form the mask pattern 15 on the inner wall of the pipe 100, so that the mask pattern 15 is formed on the outer wall of the pipe. It will be. In this case, the resolution may be increased by providing a lens that changes the irradiation light from the exposure apparatus 20 to parallel light.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the stent manufacturing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a rotating device 30 that rotates a pipe 10 into which a stent material 100 is inserted about its axis, an exposure device 20 that irradiates an ultraviolet light or the like toward the cylindrical surface of the pipe 10, and before etching. A sealing device 40 for sealing the inner wall of the stent material 100, a liquid tank 50 containing a developing solution for developing the stent material 100 exposed by the exposure device 20, and a stent material 100 whose inner wall is sealed by the sealing device 40. It shows a liquid tank 60 containing an etching solution to be impregnated.

It should be noted that each part shown in FIG. 2 is drawn for the purpose of easy understanding of the explanation, and may not actually have the dimensional ratio shown in the figure.

The rotating device 30 includes a rotating shaft portion 32 connected to a built-in motor (not shown) and a pipe receiving portion 34 located at the tip of the rotating shaft portion 32. The pipe receiving portion 34 has a structure that can be attached to and detached from the rotating shaft portion 32, and can be selected according to the size of the pipe 10. For example, in the case of the exposure apparatus 20 under the following conditions, the rotation shaft portion 32 is set to rotate at a speed of 1 to 2 rotations per minute. Therefore, the rotation speed of the rotation shaft portion 32 may be determined according to the exposure conditions. When a large stent material 100 is used, the pipe 10 is also increased in size accordingly. Therefore, the rotating device 30 is not connected to only one end of the pipe 10 as shown in FIG. 2, but is connected to both ends thereof. You may try to connect to.

The exposure apparatus 20 irradiates ultraviolet light having a wavelength of about 360 nm to 440 nm (for example, 390 nm) and an output of about 150 W. Specifically, but not limited to this, the exposure apparatus 20 can use a xenon lamp, a high-pressure mercury lamp, or the like. Although only one exposure apparatus 20 is provided here, it is possible to shorten the exposure time by providing a plurality of exposure apparatus 20. The distance between the exposure apparatus 20 and the pipe 10 may be about 20 cm to 50 cm if the above-mentioned ultraviolet light irradiation conditions are used.

The sealing device 40 seals the inner surface of the stent material 100 with a photosensitive substance such as silver iodide, silver bromide, and acrylic. The timing of sealing may be as long as it is before etching the stent material 100, for example, it may be performed on the stent material 100 before being inserted into the pipe 10, or the stent after the exposure treatment by the exposure apparatus 20. It may be performed on the material 100 or on the developed stent material 100. However, it is preferable to seal the inner surface of the stent material 100 at the timing of applying the photosensitive substance to the outer surface of the stent material 100 before inserting it into the pipe 10 so that the prebaking treatment can be performed only once. The sealing device 40 may be any as long as it can seal the inner surface of the stent material 100, and may be, for example, a dropper capable of injecting a sealing agent into the inner surface of the stent material 100, or a side surface. It may be a needle having a plurality of holes formed in the portion, or it may be injected by press-fitting (or pulling) a sealing agent on the inner surface of the stent material 100.

The liquid tank 50 contains a developing solution for removing excess photosensitive material from the stent material 100 that has been exposed using the exposure device 20. The developer may be selected according to the photosensitive material, but a 2.38 wt% aqueous solution of TMAH (tetra-methyl-ammonium-hydroxyde), which is an organic alkali, can be used.

The liquid tank 60 contains an etching solution for etching the stent material 100 exposed by the exposure apparatus 20 after being developed and then subjected to a desired rinsing treatment. The etching solution may be selected according to the material of the stent material 100, but generally, as is known, any of phosphoric acid, sulfuric acid, iron chloride, potassium cyanide, sodium hypochlorite, hydrochloric acid, nitric acid and the like can be selected. A liquid containing at least or is selected.

Next, a stent manufacturing method will be described. First, a pipe 10 having a mask pattern 15 corresponding to the opening pattern to be formed on the stent, for example, formed on the inner wall is prepared. As described above, the pipe 10 is made of quartz glass or the like.

Further, the photosensitive material is injected into the inner surface of the stent material 100 by using the sealing device 40, and the photosensitive material is also applied to the outer surface of the stent material 100. Then, the stent material 100 is prebaked at a temperature of about 100 ° C. to 400 ° C. The stent material 100 in which the photosensitive material is solidified is inserted into the pipe 10.

Subsequently, the pipe 10 is attached to the pipe receiving portion 34 of the rotating device 30 to drive the built-in motor of the rotating device 30. As a result, the pipe 10 is rotated about its axis. Next, by turning on the exposure apparatus 20, exposure is performed while rotating the pipe 10 into which the stent material 100 is inserted.

After that, the stent material 100 is taken out from the pipe 10 and impregnated in the liquid tank 50 containing the developing solution for several tens of seconds (for example, 20 seconds). In this way, the excess photosensitive material is removed from the stent material 100. Then, as is known, the stent material 100 is rinsed, and then the stent material 100 is impregnated into the liquid tank 60 containing the etching solution. The impregnation time may be determined according to the material, thickness, and the like of the stent material 100.

By the above steps, a stent having a desired opening can be manufactured. If necessary, processing such as rounding the open end of the stent may be performed.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a modified example of the stent manufacturing apparatus of FIG. FIG. 3 shows the pipe 10 and the exposure apparatus 20a to 20h. Note that FIG. 3 is a view seen from the axial direction of the pipe 10 of FIG. FIG. 2 shows an example in which exposure is performed by only one exposure device 20, but here, a state in which the cylindrical surface of the pipe 10 is surrounded by, for example, eight exposure devices 20a to 20h is shown.

In this way, when the pipe 10 is exposed by a plurality of exposure devices 20a to 20h, it is possible to expose the cylindrical surface of the pipe 10 without omission without providing a rotating device 30 to rotate the pipe 10. Therefore, in the case of the example shown in FIG. 3, there is an advantage that the rotating device 30 does not need to be installed.

As described above, the present embodiment illustrates the stent manufacturing apparatus and the stent manufacturing method, but the present invention can also be applied to a tubular body other than the stent. As an example of a tubular body, for example, in the medical field, it can be applied to a core wire, a cable for an endoscope, etc., and in other fields, a tubular body to be etched, such as an industrial spring, etc. Can be applied if.

The present invention, as can be understood by those skilled in the art, includes a pipe 10 used for forming a pattern on a tubular body, and an exposure device 20 which is some light source located around the pipe 10. Further, the inner wall is sealed by the exposure system, the developing device (liquid tank 50) for developing the tubular body in the pipe 10 exposed by the exposure device 20, and the sealing device 40. The etching system can be provided with an etching apparatus (liquid tank 60) for etching the tubular body. Then, by using these, it is possible to realize an exposure method and an etching method for a cylindrical body.

Claims (6)

A mask pattern corresponding to the opening pattern to be formed in the cylindrical body is formed on the wall portion, and the cylindrical body is formed when the exposure process is performed by press- fitting the cylindrical body. A transparent cylindrical pipe for pattern formation that does not shift in position . The cylindrical pipe for pattern formation according to claim 1 , wherein a photosensitive substance is applied to at least the outer surface of the cylindrical body before the press-fitting . The cylindrical pipe for pattern formation according to claim 1 and
With some light sources located around the pattern-forming cylindrical pipe,
A cylindrical body exposure system. The exposure system according to claim 3 and
A sealing device that seals the inner wall of the cylindrical body with a photosensitive substance,
A developing device for developing a cylindrical body in a cylindrical pipe for pattern formation exposed by the light source, and a developing device.
An etching system including an etching device for etching a cylindrical body whose inner wall is sealed by the sealing device. When a mask pattern corresponding to the opening pattern to be formed in the cylindrical body is formed on the wall portion and the cylindrical body is exposed to the transparent pattern-forming cylindrical pipe. Press in so that the position does not shift ,
The pattern-forming cylindrical pipe into which the cylindrical body was press -fitted was exposed and exposed.
The cylindrical body in the exposed cylindrical pipe for pattern formation was developed, and the cylinder was developed.
A method for etching a cylindrical body for etching the developed cylindrical body. The patterned cylindrical pipe according to claim 1, wherein the cylindrical body is any one of a stent, a core wire, an endoscope cable, and an industrial spring.

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