Design and fabrication of thin-walled reservoir based on microcasting assisted by vacuum for neutral argon plasma system in minimally invasive medical devices

Abstract

This paper presents a solution to implement neutral argon plasma (NAP) in minimally invasive medical devices for therapeutic endoscopy. The NAP system is composed of compressed inert gas (argon), two electrodes, and a high-voltage source to ionise the argon. The miniaturisation of an argon reservoir is required. Finite-element method simulations of small reservoirs of an aluminium alloy with thicknesses of 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6 mm at a pressure of 7 atm were performed. The numerical results show total deformation of 108 μm, stress of 160 MPa, and a safety factor of 1.8 for the thinnest argon reservoir, resulting in a component with no permanent deformation. A small reservoir was formed via vacuum-assisted microcasting. The prototype exhibited a small and thin-walled argon reservoir.