KR20020035693A - Method for manufacturing the electric line on the surface of a catheter and the apparatus and the catheter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method for manufacturing a catheter exterior wire using 3-dimensional thin film forming process and a catheter having the same are provided to form electricity wire on the surface of the catheter and implement automatically, accurately and fast. CONSTITUTION: For manufacturing a catheter exterior conducting wire, a conducting wire pattern is formed to be coupled to a surface of a catheter(30). The catheter(30) has an inserting tunnel(32) and a ground hole(34). The conducting wire pattern is used to supply power to 3 shape memory alloy wires and a ground wire included in a micro actuator mounted at the end of the catheter(30). Four copper wires of the pattern travel spirally from the end of the catheter(30) to a front end and are bent parallel to each other toward the three wire and the ground of the actuator. The ground hole(34) and a ground tunnel connected to the ground hole(34) are formed at the end of the conducting wire pattern. When conductive polysolder is injected into the ground hole(34), the patterned wire is electrically coupled to a micro pin in the ground hole(34) to drive the actuator.

Description

Method for manufacturing the electric line on the surface of a catheter and the apparatus and the catheter using a three-dimensional thin-film forming process

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for manufacturing a catheter for use in medical endoscopes, and in particular, depositing a metal thin film on a surface of a catheter and patterning it in a specific form to supply electricity and transmit control signals to various sensors and actuators attached to ends. The present invention relates to a catheter external wire manufacturing method using a three-dimensional thin-film forming process that enables the wires to be formed on the outside, and a manufacturing apparatus thereof.

In recent years, endoscopes have been widely used in medical procedures and are much more stable and accurate than before. The microscopic endoscope is driven by a micro actuator and a micro sensor mounted at the end of the catheter. For this purpose, a power supply line and a signal supply line for supplying power to the actuator and sensor and transmitting control signals must be installed in the catheter. . Conventionally, these power lines and signal lines have been used in the hollow of the catheter. However, as the endoscope becomes more miniaturized, the catheter's hollow is only about 1.3 to 1.5 mm, and since such a small hollow is provided with optical fibers and lighting fixtures, it is virtually impossible to embed the power lines or signal lines in this space. It became. Therefore, as a solution to this problem, a method of directly processing an electric wire having a micro unit width on the surface of the catheter has emerged.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned defects, to deposit a thin metal film on the surface of the catheter, and to pattern the thin film with a laser to form an electrical conductor on the outside to have an electrical conductor on the surface The present invention provides a catheter external wire manufacturing method using a three-dimensional thin film molding process capable of manufacturing a catheter.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a catheter external conductor manufacturing apparatus that can be implemented by more quickly and precisely automated the catheter external conductor manufacturing method.

Another object of the present invention is implemented by the catheter outer conductor manufacturing method using the three-dimensional thin film forming process to form an outer conductor formed on the surface of the electrical conductors for supplying electricity and control signals to various sensors and actuators To provide a catheter having.

1A and 1B are perspective views showing mandrels for supporting and fixing a catheter according to the present invention;

2 is a view showing the actuator coupling holes formed on the surface of the catheter according to the present invention,

Figure 3a and Figure 3b is a side view showing a metal thin film pattern formed on the surface of the catheter by the laser pattern processing according to the present invention, and expanded it by cutting along the longitudinal direction in the A direction,

4A and 4B are exploded perspective and coupling cross-sectional views illustrating a coupling state of a catheter and an actuator in which external conductors are formed in a laser pattern;

5a and 5b is a plan view and a front view showing a catheter external conductor manufacturing apparatus using a three-dimensional thin film forming process according to the present invention,

Figure 6 is a perspective view showing the structure of the fixture for holding and transporting the catheter in Figure 5;

* Code descriptions for the main parts of the drawings

10: broken mandrel 12: cutout

20: punched mandrel 22: outflow hole

30: catheter 32: insertion hole

34: ground hole 36: lead wire

38: ground hole 40: actuator

42: pin 50: polysolder

100: process chamber 102: sputter gun

104: viewport 106: shutter

110,110a: Connector 120,120a: Auxiliary chamber

122,122a: guide rod 130: RF power supply means

132: matching box 140: boat

142: DC power supply means 144: temperature sensor

146: boat opening and closing shutter 150: mass flow controller

152: MFC controller 160: thickness measurement monitor

162 monitor controller 170 turbomolecular pump

172: pump controller 174: vacuum gauge

180: exhaust valve controller 200: transfer means

210: roundabout 220: straight reciprocating

230: fixture 231,231a: round plate

232,232a: Support 233,233a: Fixed Chuck

234: drive gear 234a: driven gear

235: synchronous shaft 236: 1st gear

236a: second drive gear 240: drive shaft

Catheter external lead manufacturing method using a three-dimensional thin-film molding process according to the present invention for achieving the above object, in the catheter of the medical endoscope, to improve the adhesion performance of the catheter before coating the metal thin film on the surface of the catheter A surface modification step of modifying the surface; After modifying the surface of the catheter, performing a sputtering to form a first metal thin film on the surface of the catheter; A wire thin film forming step of forming a metal thin film layer to be used as a conductive wire by performing a thermal deposition process on a base thin film layer of a catheter; And a laser pattern processing step of patterning the conductive thin film deposited through the thermal deposition process into a plurality of conductive strands by laser patterning the conductive thin film.

In addition, a catheter outer conductor manufacturing apparatus for achieving another object of the present invention is a device for manufacturing a catheter of the medical endoscope, provided with a sputter gun for generating a plasma on the inner upper portion, while the boat for thermal deposition on the inner lower portion A process chamber provided; An auxiliary chamber fixed to a connection pipe at both ends of the process chamber to enter the catheter and transfer the catheter to the process chamber; A catheter fixing tool positioned in the auxiliary chamber, the feeding means rotating and linearly transferring the fastener to the process chamber; Vacuum means for regulating and controlling the degree of vacuum in the process chamber according to the process; A mass flow controller controlling a gas supply into the process chamber; RF power supply means for supplying RF power for generating plasma to the sputter gun; And a direct current power supply means for supplying power required for thermal deposition to the thermal deposition boat.

A catheter having an external conductor for achieving another object of the present invention is a catheter, the actuator is mounted to the end of the catheter and a plurality of electrical conductors for supplying power and control signals to the various sensors on its surface in the longitudinal direction It characterized in that formed to the end along.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The microscopic endoscope approaches the patient's affected area through the blood vessel or the abdominal cavity. For this purpose, the endoscope must be made to bend smoothly according to the curvature of the blood vessel. Therefore, the most suitable material is a biocompatible resin material. Especially, the catheter (microtubule) entering the body should have the above properties, so it is a silicone resin or a polyurethane resin which is very compatible with the living body. Will be used. Therefore, as a catheter to be used as a basic structure in the present invention is a commercially available medical polyurethane or silicone tube is suitable. Of course, in addition to this, any micro tube formed from a material having biocompatibility may be used.

As described above, the microtubes to be used as catheter are selected or manufactured before the present invention is applied. Referring to the method of manufacturing the outer conductor by applying the present invention to the catheter provided as described above is as follows.

Before depositing the metal thin film on the surface of the catheter, the surface of the catheter is modified to improve the adhesion between the resin catheter and the metal thin film. After the surface of the catheter is modified, RF sputtering is performed to form the first metal thin film on the surface of the catheter. First, after the metal thin film is formed on the catheter, the thermal evaporation process is subsequently performed to form a metal thin film layer having a thickness of about 1 to 2 μm. Since the metal thin film deposited on the catheter forms a single wire, the metal thin film on the surface of the catheter is patterned with a laser to obtain the required number of wires. After the outer conductor is processed on the surface of the catheter by laser pattern processing, the catheter is finally completed by coating the outer and inner circumferences of the catheter with ferriline, a biocompatible material, so as to avoid rejection in the human body.

From now on will be described in more detail with respect to the catheter outer lead manufacturing process of the present invention briefly described above.

Before entering the process, a flexible catheter that flexes well during the process must be firmly fixed. At this time, the mandrel used is inserted into the hollow catheter to correct and maintain the shape of the catheter.

In particular, the use of the mandrel causes most of the moisture inside the catheter, which is a polymer material, to be evacuated, so that the catheter is fixed to the inserted mandrel. Will occur. Therefore, this problem is solved by inserting a specially manufactured mandrel as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B into the inner diameter of the tube.

1A and 1B are perspective views showing mandrels for supporting and fixing a catheter according to the present invention, FIG. 1A shows a broken mandrel and FIG. 1B shows a perforated mandrel.

As shown in FIG. 1A, a predetermined portion of the seamless stainless steel pipe having a thickness of 0.25 mm is cut to a width of about 1 mm along the length direction to produce a breakable mandrel 10. After the mandrel 10 is inserted into a catheter (not shown) and supported, the mandrel 10 is separated from the catheter by collapsing both ends along the cutout portion 12 of the mandrel 10.

In addition, Figure 1b shows a drilled mandrel 20, as shown, the drilled mandrel 20 is an outlet hole through which liquid can flow out at about 20mm intervals on a seamless stainless steel pipe surface having a thickness of 0.5mm ( 22) perforated. After inserting the perforated mandrel 20 into the catheter and performing the process, the ethanol flowed out through the outlet hole 22 by the ethanol flow into the hollow of the mandrel 20 and the surface of the mandrel 20 and the catheter Make a thin film between the inner surfaces. Then, the catheter can be easily separated from the mandrel 20.

After extrapolating and fixing the tubular catheter to the mandrel manufactured as described above, the following steps are performed in order to form an external conductor on the surface of the catheter.

1. Surface modification process.

In order to improve the adhesion performance of the catheter, the surface modification process is first performed. In the surface modification process, the catheter is first washed with ethanol for 30 minutes, and then, while the catheter is linearly moved while rotating the catheter, RF plasma is added to wash the surface for 20 minutes. At the time of surface modification degree of vacuum was maintained at ~ 3 × 10 ^-3 torr and 2, a gas is used the oxygen (O _2).

Thus, modifying the surface of the catheter using plasma increases the mechanical action, that is, the effect that the deposited copper thin film is tied to the surface of the canyon. In addition, the formation of a weak boundary layer not only lowers the contact angle of water, but also forms carboxyl groups to enhance the covalent bonds occurring on the surface of the catheter. Due to the above causes, the plasma surface modification exerts an effect of improving the adhesion of the metal thin film in a later step.

2. Sputtering process.

After the surface of the catheter is modified as described above, RF sputtering is performed to form the first metal thin film on the surface of the catheter. In this case, the metal to be attached is most preferably chromium (Cr), which is a metal having affinity with a resin, which is a material of a catheter. Here, during the process of sputtering, the degree of vacuum is maintained at 2 to 3 x 10 ^-3 torr, and argon (Ar) is used as the gas.

3. Thermal Deposition Process.

First, after the base layer of the metal thin film is formed on the catheter, the thermal evaporation process is subsequently performed to form the metal thin film layer with a thickness of about 1 to 2 μm. At this time, a metal having excellent electrical conductivity is used as the metal to be used. Typically, copper (Cu) is preferable. And the vacuum degree in the process is 5x10 <^-6> torr.

4. Laser pattern processing.

Since the metal thin film deposited on the catheter through the above metal thin film forming process forms a single conductive wire, the metal thin film on the surface of the catheter is patterned with a laser to obtain the required number of conductive wires. At this time, the excimer laser removes the unnecessary portions of the metal thin film and is patterned into a plurality of conductive wires, thereby forming as many conductor strands as necessary on the surface of the catheter. The laser patterned drawing is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

Figure 2 shows the actuator coupling holes formed on the surface of the catheter according to the invention, Figures 3a and 3b is a side view showing a metal thin film pattern formed on the surface of the catheter by laser pattern processing according to the present invention, and the A direction This is a developed view cut along the longitudinal direction in.

As shown in FIG. 2, the catheter 30 has four insertion holes into which three conducting wires and one grounding wire of an actuator (not shown) can be inserted along the length of the catheter 30 by using an axamer laser. 32), a square ground hole 34 is formed in the adjacent surface portion of the distal end of the catheter 30 to a size of approximately 1 x 1 mm ² in communication with it. Therefore, the insertion hole 32 and the ground hole 34 are connected in pairs, and the catheter 30 is spaced apart from the top apex by 60 °, 60 °, 120 °, 120 ° in the clockwise direction. It is. In the four insertion holes 32 described above, micro pins connecting the three shape memory alloy wires and one ground wire of the actuator are inserted and fixed, and the ground holes 34 communicating with the insertion holes 32 are provided. Injecting a poly-solder into the) to electrically connect the micro pins inserted into the insertion holes 32 and the four patterned wires 36 formed on the surface of the catheter, respectively, to transmit electricity and control signals to the actuator. do.

In order to transmit the electricity supply and control signals to the actuator as shown in FIG. 2, the conductive wire 36 pattern is connected to the surface of the catheter 30 in which the insertion hole 32 and the ground hole 34 are processed. have. As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the processed patterns are wires for supplying power to three shape memory alloy wires and one ground wire provided in the micro actuator to be mounted at the end of the catheter 30. Four copper wire patterns having a width of 1.4 mm are helically progressed from one side end to a proximal end, and are bent at the front end to be bent to a position to be connected to the three conductive wires and one ground wire of the actuator. A ground hole 38 communicating with the above-described ground hole 34 is formed at an end of the conductive wire 36 pattern formed in parallel. Therefore, the ground hole 38 and the ground hole 34 are formed on the same line and are connected to each other. When a conductive poly solder is injected therein, the ground hole 38 and the ground hole 34 are inserted into the ground hole 34 through the conductive wire 36 and the insertion hole 32. The entered micro pins are electrically connected to drive the actuator. This will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 4 as follows.

4A and 4B illustrate an exploded perspective view and a cross-sectional view showing a coupling state of a catheter and an actuator in which external conductors are formed in a laser pattern. As shown in FIG. 4A, four micro pins 42 are provided at the end of the actuator 40. ) Are protruding, the pins 42 are inserted into the insertion hole 32 formed at the end of the catheter 30 as shown in FIG. Then, the pin 42 of the actuator 40 passes through the insertion hole 32 and is located in the ground hole 34 in communication with the insertion hole 32. In this state, the conductive poly is connected to the ground hole 34. When the solder 50 is injected and fixed, the lead 36 formed in the surface portion of the catheter 30 in contact with the ground hole 34 is also made of the micro pin 50 in the ground hole 34 by the polysolder 50. Electrical connection with the Thus, the external conductors 36 of the catheter 30 and the terminals of the actuator are connected to supply electricity or to transmit control signals.

5. Processing of the surface protective layer.

Since the catheter enters and comes into direct contact with the human body, the most important thing is not to cause the maximum rejection in the human body. Therefore, after the outer conductor is processed on the surface of the catheter, the outer circumference and the inner circumference are coated with a biocompatible material, parylene, to finally complete the catheter. It also protects the catheter's interior from ambient humidity and temperature. Ferririn coating process is carried out in three steps as follows.

In the first process, the powdered ferrin material is vaporized into a di-para-xylylene dimer. In the second process, this dimer is made into a monomer of para-xylylene. Then, in the final process, the monomer of para-xylylene is deposited on the catheter in the process chamber. This process converts the monomer into a polymer, which is then coated with a thin layer on the surface of the catheter. Since the coating process takes place at 0.1torr, the peririn polymer will be uniformly deposited on all sides of the catheter, both inside and outside, regardless of the catheter structure.

From now on, it will be described in detail with respect to the apparatus for manufacturing the external conductor on the surface of the catheter by performing the above process automatically.

5A and 5B are a plan view and a front view showing a catheter external lead manufacturing apparatus using a three-dimensional thin film forming process according to the present invention, Figure 6 is a perspective view showing the structure of a fixture for holding and transporting the catheter in FIG.

As shown in the drawing, the catheter external wire manufacturing apparatus includes a process chamber 100 through which all processes are performed, and a pair of left and right auxiliary chambers 120 and 120a connected to both sides of the process chamber 100 through connecting pipes 110 and 110a. It is coupled to one side of the auxiliary chamber 120, the holding means for holding the catheter to be performed, the auxiliary chambers (120, 120a) reciprocating and feeding means for supplying to the process chamber 100 to the catheter 200 Equipped with. In particular, the auxiliary chamber (120, 120a) is provided with an input door for mounting the catheter to be processed. The work space of the assembled system is 2,500mm in length and the total length including the transport means is about 4,000mm. In particular, the entire surface of the chambers is manufactured through an electro-polishing (EP) process and a sandblast (Sandblast) process, the connecting portions are bonded by argon (Ar) welding.

The sputter gun 102 is mounted on the upper part of the process chamber 100, and two viewports 104 and three shutters 106 which can visually check the process progress are fixed. In particular, two of the three shutters 106 are protective shutters that open and close the inner end of the viewport 104 to prevent foreign matter from adhering to the inner surface glass portion, and only one shutter operates the sputter gun 102. The shutter is open when Here, a magnetic sputter gun is used as the sputter gun 102 used for sputtering, and the sputter electrode is made of stainless steel under the catheter. The sputter gun 102 is connected to the RF power supply unit 130 and the matching box 132 is supplied with power.

The lower portion of the process chamber 100 is provided with a boat 140 used in the thermal evaporation process, the DC power supply means 142 is connected to the boat 140 is supplied with a DC power therefrom. In addition, the boat 140 is installed with a temperature sensor 144 for detecting a temperature to detect the deposition degree by measuring the internal temperature during the thermal deposition process. As described above, the thermal evaporation unit is configured at the lower portion of the process chamber 100, and the boat opening / closing shutter 146 is provided at the upper portion of the boat 140 to open or close the boat 140 during the thermal evaporation process. .

The front portion of the process chamber 100 is provided with a mass flow controller 150 and an MFC controller 152 for controlling the amount of oxygen and argon gas introduced during the surface modification and sputtering process. In addition, the thickness measurement monitor 160 is installed adjacent to the catheter to measure the deposition rate and the thickness of the metal thin film during the thermal deposition process, the monitor controller 162 for controlling the thickness measurement monitor 160 is a process It is comprised outside the chamber 100.

In addition, a turbomolecular pump 170 for forming a vacuum is disposed at the rear portion of the process chamber 100, and the turbomolecular pump 170 is prevented from adhering metal particles evaporated in the process chamber 100. Screens and elbows are installed. The turbomolecular pump 170 is constantly driven by the pump controller 172, and the process chamber 100 is also equipped with a vacuum gauge 174 for measuring and maintaining a set vacuum degree in order to maintain an appropriate vacuum state for each process. . In addition, an exhaust valve controller 180 for exhausting the vacuum of the process chamber 100 after completing all processes is also provided. Through this, after the work is completed, the outside air is introduced to exhaust the internal vacuum.

Plasma surface modification, sputtering, and thermal evaporation occur sequentially in the process chamber 100 to process the catheter surface, and most importantly, the process is performed uniformly on the entire surface of the catheter. To this end, the catheter is rotated at the same time while constantly moving straight to the process chamber 100. It is the conveying means 200 to perform such an operation, the conveying means 200 rotates the catheter while the rotary 210 rotates, the straight reciprocating portion 220 is a linear movement to move the catheter straight. The conveying means 200 is connected to the auxiliary chamber 120 of one side, and is provided in the auxiliary chamber 120 is fixed to the catheter, and has a fixture 230 that rotates / go straight. The fixture 230 enters the interior of the connection pipes 110 and 110a connecting the process chamber 100 and the auxiliary chambers 120 and 120a on both sides thereof to be linearly moved.

This will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 6, and the fixture 230 includes a pair of first and second circular plates 231 and 231a spaced apart from each other, as shown in FIG. 6, and the first and second circular plates ( First and second supports 232 and 232a are connected to and support the 231 and 231a. In particular, the pair of first and second circular plates 231 and 231a are spaced apart by the length of the catheter to be processed, and the first and second fixed chucks 233 and 233a protrude from each other at the opposite inner center thereof. The first fixed chuck 233 on the side of the double conveying means is directly connected to the drive shaft 240 of the conveying means and is driven to rotate. The drive gear 234 is coupled to the opposite side of the first circular plate 231 of the first fixed chuck 233 which is driven in this way, and the drive gear 234 is meshed with the driven gear 234a again to rotate and drive it. . The synchronous shaft 235 is fixed to the driven gear 234a to drive the first drive gear 236 fixed to the outer surface of the second circular plate 231a on the opposite side. The second fixed gear 233a is connected to the second fixed chuck 233a to rotate the second fixed chuck 233a at the same speed as the first fixed chuck 233. As a result, both ends of the catheter having both ends supported and fixed to the first and second fixed chucks 233 and 233a are rotated equally. Of course, the catheter is well bent, so that the mandrel (not shown) described above is inserted into the catheter to be fixed to the first and second fixed chucks 233 and 233a. In particular, the fixture 230 is guided on the auxiliary chamber (120, 120a) and the process chamber 100 along the guide rods (122, 122a) fixed to the auxiliary chambers (120, 120a), a pair of guides for this purpose The rods 122 and 122a pass through the circular plates 231 and 231a and are fixed to the auxiliary chambers 120 and 120a at both ends.

Now, the catheter external lead manufacturing method will be described in detail with reference to the above drawings.

Before performing a process of depositing a metal thin film on the surface of the catheter, a surface modification process is first performed to improve the adhesion of the metal thin film to the resin catheter. In this surface modification process, the catheter 30 is first washed with ethanol for 30 minutes, and then inserted into a mandrel to be fixed to a fixture 230 located in the auxiliary chamber 120. At this time, both ends of the mandrel are fixed to the fixing chucks 233 and 233a provided on both sides of the fixture 230 to hold the catheter. Then, the turbomolecular pump 170 is driven by the pump controller 172 to make the inside of the process chamber 100 in a high vacuum state, and the mass flow controller 150 injects oxygen (O ₂ ) into the process chamber 100. Done. At this time, the vacuum gauge 174 measures the degree of vacuum so that the process chamber 100 maintains a proper vacuum. That is, the process chamber 100 maintains a vacuum degree of 2 to 3 x 10 ^-3 torr suitable for plasma reforming. Then, the driving means 200 is driven to move the catheter 30 in parallel with the rotational movement, while supplying power to the sputter gun 102 from the RF power supply means 130 to generate plasma. The plasma generated in this way is applied to the surface of the catheter for 20 minutes to be modified while washing the surface.

After the surface of the catheter is modified, oxygen supply is blocked by the mass flow controller 150, and argon is injected into the process chamber 100. Then, the vacuum gauge 174 continuously measures the degree of vacuum in the process chamber 100 to control the degree of opening and closing of the gate valve (not shown) to obtain a vacuum degree-vacuum level suitable for the corresponding process from 2 to 3 x 10 ^-3 torr. To keep- After opening the operation shutter 106 in this state, the plasma is discharged from the sputter gun 102 supplied with power from the RF power supply unit 130. Accordingly, the metal particles are emitted from the metal target attached to the sputter gun 102 and deposited on the surface of the catheter 30. The RF sputtering process is performed to form the base layer by forming the first metal thin film on the surface of the catheter 30. In this case, the metal to be attached is most preferably chromium (Cr), which is a metal having affinity with a resin which is a material of the catheter 30, and copper or titanium is used in addition to this. However, the reason why the base thin film layer is formed of chromium is because chromium has good affinity with the resin material compared to other metals, which is good for adhesion to the catheter, and can accelerate the adhesion of the metal thin film layer deposited secondly. Copper is used as a material of this secondary metal thin film layer. Of course, during the sputtering process, the catheter 30, which is the workpiece to be sputtered, is always rotated and moved in a reciprocating manner between the auxiliary chambers 120 and 120a by the transfer device 200. Accordingly, the metal thin film is to be uniformly deposited on the surface of the catheter.

After the metal layer is first formed on the catheter 30 to form the base layer, the mass flow controller 150 is stopped to stop the gas supply, and the RF power supply is stopped from the RF power supply unit 130. Then, the vacuum gauge 174 is controlled to increase the vacuum degree (5 × 10 ⁻⁶ torr) to a very high level, and then a direct current is supplied from the direct current power supply unit 142 to the boat 140 to melt the thermal evaporation metal (copper). The copper is deposited on the surface of the catheter 30 which is rotated and moved straight by the transfer means 200 at the top thereof. This thermal deposition proceeds to form a metal thin film layer on the surface of the catheter 30 to a thickness of about 1 ~ 2㎛. At this time, the thickness measurement monitor 160 located on the upper portion of the catheter 30 measures the thermal deposition thickness and continues the process to the appropriate thickness. As described above, after the metal thin film forming process is completed, the exhaust valve controller 180 opens and closes the exhaust valve to inject fresh air outside, in actuality, nitrogen (N ₂ ) to exhaust the vacuum.

Since the metal thin film formed on the catheter 30 through the above process can only be used as one strand of conductor, laser patterning processing is performed to make the necessary conductors 36 of several strands. That is, the laser thin film is scanned on the surface of the catheter 30 on which the metal thin film is deposited to pattern the metal thin film to form the necessary number of conductive wires 36. In this case, an excimer laser is used as the laser to be used, and the excimer laser is scanned on the metal thin film to remove an unnecessary place of the metal thin film according to the lead wire pattern. The wire pattern thus processed supplies electricity to the micro actuator attached to the end of the catheter and transmits a control signal.

As described above, the catheter 30 having the patterned conductors 36 on the surface after the laser patterning is in direct contact with the living body when inserted into the human body, so that the outer circumferential surface and the inner circumferential surface in the process chamber 100 to impart biocompatibility thereto. Coating with a ferriline, a biocompatible material, to finally complete the catheter 30.

As described above, the present invention is to deposit a metal thin film on the surface of the catheter and to pattern in a specific form to shape the electrical conductor on the outside of the catheter, it is possible to reduce the space for securing the electrical conductor without having to install the electrical conductor inside the hollow of the catheter have. Therefore, since the catheter does not need to be provided with a separate conductor, the catheter can be reduced in weight, and the size of the catheter can be reduced to further produce an ultra-compact catheter. In addition, the present invention has the effect that can implement the automation of the catheter production because the previous process is performed by the external conductor manufacturing apparatus of the catheter.

Claims (13)

In the catheter of medical endoscopes, A surface modification step of modifying the surface of the catheter in order to improve the adhesion performance before coating the metal thin film on the surface of the catheter; After modifying the surface of the catheter, performing a sputtering to form a first metal thin film on the surface of the catheter; A wire thin film forming step of forming a metal thin film layer to be used as a conductive wire by performing a thermal deposition process on a base thin film layer of a catheter; And A method of manufacturing a catheter external conductor using a three-dimensional thin film forming process comprising a laser pattern processing step of patterning a conductive thin film deposited by the thermal evaporation process into a laser to form a plurality of conductive strands. The method of claim 1, wherein the surface modification step comprises first washing the catheter in ethanol and modifying the surface by applying RF plasma to the plasma while simultaneously rotating the catheter. Catheter outer conductor manufacturing method using a three-dimensional thin film forming process, characterized in that made. The method of claim 2, wherein the degree of vacuum during surface modification is maintained at 2 to 3 x 10 ^-3 torr, and the gas is oxygen (O ₂ ). . The chromium (Cr) thin film is formed on the surface of the catheter according to claim 1, wherein the basic thin film forming step injects argon (Ar) gas under a vacuum degree of 2 to 3 x 10 ^-3 torr and performs an RF sputtering process. A catheter outer conductor manufacturing method using a three-dimensional thin film molding process, characterized in that the molding. 5. The three-dimensional thin film forming process according to claim 1 or 4, wherein the wire thin film forming step is performed by thermal evaporation on the chromium thin film under a vacuum degree of 5 x 10 ^-6 torr. Catheter external wire manufacturing method using. The method of claim 1, further comprising coating the outer circumference and the inner circumference of the catheter with ferylene, a biocompatible material, after processing the outer conductor on the surface of the catheter by patterning with a laser. Catheter external wire manufacturing method using. In the apparatus for manufacturing a catheter of the medical endoscope, A process chamber having a sputter gun for generating a plasma at an upper portion thereof and a boat for thermal deposition at a lower portion thereof; An auxiliary chamber fixed to a connection pipe at both ends of the process chamber to enter the catheter and transfer the catheter to the process chamber; A catheter fixing tool positioned in the auxiliary chamber, the feeding means rotating and linearly transferring the fastener to the process chamber; Vacuum means for regulating and controlling the degree of vacuum in the process chamber according to the process; A mass flow controller controlling a gas supply into the process chamber; RF power supply means for supplying RF power for generating plasma to the sputter gun; And Catheter outer conductor manufacturing apparatus using a three-dimensional thin film forming process comprising a DC power supply means for supplying the power required for thermal deposition to the thermal deposition boat. 8. The catheter outer conductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the conveying means includes a rotary for rotating the fastener and a straight reciprocating part for straight forwarding the fastener. The method of claim 7 or 8, wherein the fastener is coupled to the drive shaft of the conveying means and a pair of circular plate coupled to the fixed chuck to rotate and spaced apart by the length of the catheter, the circular plate is coupled to the spaced apart A catheter external conductor manufacturing apparatus using a three-dimensional thin film forming process, characterized in that the support is provided. 10. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising guide bars penetrating through the pair of circular plates and fixed across the auxiliary chambers at both ends to guide the fixture to the auxiliary chambers and the process chamber. Catheter external conductor manufacturing apparatus using a three-dimensional thin film forming process. The method of claim 7, wherein the vacuum means has a turbo molecular pump connected to the process chamber to create a vacuum state, a pump controller for driving the turbo molecular pump, and a vacuum gauge for detecting and adjusting the degree of vacuum in the process chamber Catheter external conductor manufacturing apparatus using a three-dimensional thin film forming process, characterized in that. In a catheter, And a plurality of electric conductors for supplying power and control signals to actuators mounted on the end of the catheter and various sensors, formed on the surface of the catheter to an end portion along its longitudinal direction. The catheter of claim 12, wherein the outer conductors of the surface of the catheter are spirally formed on the surface along a longitudinal direction thereof, and are bent near the end to be horizontally formed.