Nexans developed a super-fine single shielded twisted pair AWG52 cable for patient comfort

With the development of minimally invasive surgery, the miniaturization of components is a key challenge for medical devices manufacturers. To meet customer needs, Nexans has developed new process technologies to be able to produce NEWSENSE® micro-cables for trans-catheter, endoscopy and ultrasound applications.

Particularly, micro-extrusion technology has been developed to reduce the thickness of wire insulation and cable outer jacket down to 15 microns.

The geometry of extruder screw and cross-head have been designed  by modelization to avoid stagnation areas and reduce time residence of melt material inside machine. That prevents any material degradation during transformation, results in excellent stability of low output rate (down to 0,5g/min) and greater ability to control extremely small cables outer diameter.

This new technology allows the production of new space saving cables such as Superfine twisted pair cable AWG52 for trans-catheter applications. This design uses 2 insulated wires AWG52 (20 µm copper diameter), stranded together as a twisted pair. High coverage overall shield by 15 µm wires in silver plated copper alloy protects the cable from external electromagnetic disturbances. 

Externally, biocompatible low friction fluoropolymer jacket is extruded with 0,14 mm final outer diameter.