What are Micro Coils

An electromagnetic coil is created by winding an electrical conductor, such as wire, into the form of a coil, spiral, or helix. The shape and dimensions of a coil are tailored to fulfill specific requirements. Factors such as inductance, resistance, and the strength of the desired magnetic field significantly influence a coil’s shape and size. Micro coils perform the same functions as regular coils but are incredibly small, often necessitating the use of a magnifying glass or microscope for examination and manipulation.

Electromagnetic coils are used in applications where electric currents interact with magnetic fields, such as in inductors, electromagnets, transformers, and sensor coils. In such applications, an electric current is either passed through the coil’s wire to generate a magnetic field or an external time-varying magnetic field is passed through the coil, producing a current in the conductor.

Miniaturization Challenges

Designers, especially those creating invasive medical devices, face a significant challenge: fitting the device’s physical size within the limitations imposed by its intended use. This need often results in the demand for micro coils that are much smaller than those previously manufactured—coils so small that they fit within the eye of a needle. Given the rising demand for miniaturized and microscopic parts for components like sensors and transducers, micro coils are increasingly necessary for producing cutting-edge micro-motion control and positioning systems.

Micro Coil Challenges

Manufacturing micro coils involves the use of ultra-fine wires that may be as thin as eight microns (0.0003 inches) in diameter. Traditional machinery and methods of winding and connecting micro coils are often insufficient. At Benatav, we have surmounted these winding and connecting issues by developing custom machinery and methods.

Connecting Ultra-fine Wires

We resolved the connectivity challenges with an innovative thermo-pressure bonding technology developed in-house. This technology enables us to connect ultra-fine wires with similar or vastly differing diameters and materials. As a result, we can now deliver highly reliable, corrosion-free, and strain-free joins, which are suitable for both disposable and long-life products, such as permanent medical implants.

We are among the few companies globally that work with such fine wires, and we’re continually improving our capabilities to produce coils from wires as small as eight microns in diameter.

Winding Micro Coils with Ultra-fine Wires

We have also built micro-coil-winding machinery with which we can produce industrial quantities of micro coils to extremely tight tolerances and quality standards, such as those required by medical applications. 

Micro Coil Applications

The following is a list of some applications that benefit from micro-coil and ultra-fine wire connectivity technology:

• Active implants—monitoring or control of implanted pace-makers, or deep brain stimulation components, for example, pain management devices
• Therapeutic applications—devices in electrophysiology treatments, (cardiac or neural), or electricity-based ablation (microwave and RF)
• Navigation and orientation sensors—targeted drug delivery, targeted radiation catheters, stent positioning, highly accurate ablations, implanted markers, and endoscopic manipulation 
• Orthopedic and dental treatment using pulsed electromagnets
• Diagnostic—wireless communication with miniature sensor implants, whether physiological (blood pressure or heartbeat), or flow (blood or respiration)

The Future of Micro Coil and Ultra-Fine Wire Technologies

Benatav’s innovative ultra-fine wire technologies open up endless possibilities for designers of miniaturized medical equipment and other industries. There’s an increasing need to access high-density body areas while minimizing interference with regular body functioning. Simultaneously, the necessity to reduce energy consumption and extend the lifespan of implanted components underlines the importance of miniaturization in medical devices.

A Benatav-produced micro coil can act as a navigation component in a cardiovascular catheter used for cardiac ablation. This component, a critical element in a disposable catheter, exemplifies the advantages gained from using Benatav’s groundbreaking technology to mass-produce high-quality, miniature components at a reasonable cost. As more designers become aware of our micro coils, we anticipate that their variety of applications will increase, making our micro coils even more widely utilized.

Call Benatav on +972-3-9345951 to discuss how our ISO 13485-approved micro-coil technologies can benefit your business.