Vizi-Band® Radiopaque Marker Coating

Selective gold and platinum plating designed to enhance visibility, performance, and precision in catheter-based and implantable devices

What is Vizi-Band®?

Vizi-Band® is ProPlate’s engineered plating solution for applying radiopaque gold and platinum coatings to medical device components. It enables precise visualization under fluoroscopy while maintaining tight tolerances, thin wall profiles, and overall device performance. Unlike traditional marker bands or bulk material solutions, Vizi-Band® applies metal only where needed, supporting device miniaturization without sacrificing visibility.

Unlike traditional marker bands that must be individually crimped or swaged onto each component one at a time, Vizi-Band® is a batch plating process. Multiple components are processed simultaneously, and all marker locations on each component are coated in a single plating cycle. For example, a batch of 100 components each requiring 15 marker locations would result in 1,500 markers applied in a single run, compared to 1,500 individual mechanical attachment operations with traditional methods. This dramatically reduces production time and labor cost at scale. For catheter designs that also require improved torque transmission and kink resistance, ProPlate’s Torq-Lok® braid plating technology can be applied alongside Vizi-Band® radiopaque marking on the same device.

Why Radiopacity Matters in Medical Devices?

In minimally invasive procedures, device visibility is critical for accurate placement and patient safety.

Vizi-Band® supports:

  • Clear visualization under fluoroscopy
  • Precise device positioning in complex anatomy
  • Reduced reliance on bulky marker components
  • Consistent performance across procedures

ProPlate’s selective plating approach enhances visibility without increasing device size or complexity.

Vizi-Band® Radiopaque Marker Coating 1
View White Papers

Where Vizi-Band® Is Used?

Vizi-Band® is commonly used in catheter-based and implantable medical devices, including:

Balloon catheters

Radiopaque markers support accurate positioning during inflation and deployment, helping ensure precise treatment in targeted vessels.

Guidewires

Marker placement enhances visibility along the guidewire, allowing physicians to track movement and navigate complex anatomy.

Stent delivery systems

Radiopaque indicators assist with alignment and deployment of stents, improving placement accuracy in minimally invasive procedures.

Electrophysiology catheters

Visibility is critical for mapping and ablation procedures, where precise positioning directly impacts treatment effectiveness.

Neurovascular devices

High-precision visualization is required in delicate cerebral anatomy, where small movements can significantly impact outcomes.

Structural heart delivery systems

Radiopaque markers enable controlled positioning of devices within complex cardiac structures during transcatheter procedures.

Its flexibility allows it to be applied across a wide range of geometries and component types.

Need better visibility without increasing device size?

Contact Us

Engineering Challenges in Medical Devices

Radiopaque marking in medical devices presents unique challenges related to size, precision, and reliability. ProPlate’s Vizi-Band® process is engineered to address these challenges while maintaining device performance and manufacturability.

Key Challenges ProPlate Solutions
Achieving radiopacity without increasing profile Selective gold and platinum deposition only where needed
Maintaining adhesion on small or complex geometries Proven adhesion processes for stainless steel and complex substrates
Controlling plating thickness in tight tolerances Tight thickness control for repeatable performance
Avoiding interference with device flexibility Thin, conformal coatings that preserve flexibility
Ensuring consistency across high-volume production Scalable processes from development through production

Components Supported with Vizi-Band®

ProPlate applies Vizi-Band® plating to a wide range of medical device components, including:

  • Marker bands
  • Catheter shafts and subassemblies
  • Braids
  • Pull rings
  • Ring electrodes
  • Micro-components requiring localized radiopacity
Pile of gold and platinum plated stainless steel marker bands/electrodes in various sizes
Stent Frame
Bunch of bare and gold plated pull ring assemblies
Au plated braid
RO braid image

Application Examples & Technical Resources

Vizi-Band® Radiopaque Markers for Catheters

Traditional catheter marker bands require precise mechanical attachment, adding cost and risk of inconsistency or dislodgement. ProPlate developed the Vizi-Band® process to selectively apply radiopaque coatings with accurate placement and repeatable results. The result was improved visibility, reduced profile, and enhanced reliability without secondary assembly steps.

Download White Paper PDF→

The Product: Catheter Marker Bands

Marker bands help with the placement and guidance of catheters during medical procedures due to their radiopaque properties. A traditional marker band is a short, thin-walled tube machined from Gold or Platinum that is mechanically crimped or swaged at specific locations on a catheter to provide high levels of visibility under an x-ray fluoroscope. This allows surgeons to precisely locate the catheter placement deep within the body to deploy stents, balloons, and other devices.

The Challenge

Medical device manufacturing requires highly controlled processes that meet stringent criteria. In order to provide consistent radiopacity, ProPlate® had to determine the optimum process solution. The other challenge for this project was the precise placement at specific locations along the catheter or similar components. The marker bands had to be selectively placed at exact locations, with consistent and repeatable results.

The Engineered Solution

ProPlate® worked in order to achieve comparable radiopacity to traditional markers. A set of studies were conducted until ProPlate® was satisfied with the results. Through these trials, ProPlate® developed Vizi-Band®, a highly radiopaque and bio-compatible metal coating that can be selectively applied to any area of the desired component, with endless options for design and brightness customization. Custom tooling and masking were developed to ensure consistent and accurate positioning of the Vizi-Band® marker coating along the catheter, guidewire, hypotube, stent, or similar components. Vizi-Band® allows a manufacturer to reduce the labor component of handling and attaching the traditional marker bands, reduce the cost of machining them from solid Gold, and improve distal tip flexibility. Vizi-Band® not only improved application performance by reducing the catheter profile but also eliminated the risk of traditional marker band dislodgement due to it being atomically bonded to the component.

Benefits
  • Bio-Compatible
  • Replace Traditional Markers
  • Reduce Material & Labor Costs
  • Lower Device Profile
  • Improve Distal Tip Flexibility
  • Eliminate Dislodgement Risk
  • Atomically Bonded Coating

Vizi-Band® Radiopaque Markers for Cannula Devices

medical syringe needle isolated on white

Traditional radiopaque marker bands for cannulas require secondary machining and attachment processes that add cost and risk of dislodgement. ProPlate developed the Vizi-Band® process to selectively apply radiopaque coatings directly onto the component with precise placement and strong adhesion. The result was enhanced fluoroscopic visibility, reduced profile, and improved reliability without additional assembly steps.

Download White Paper PDF →

The Product: Radiopaque Marker Bands for Cannula Devices

A Cannula is a tube that gets inserted into the body for medical device applications and is often used to deliver or remove fluids or gather biological samples. A cannula can surround a trocar needle's inner or outer surfaces, thus extending the effective needle length by typically at least half the length of the original needle. This method is most commonly used in Intravenous (IV) cannulation and can be used in various medical applications. Cannula medical applications often require a need for radiopaque marker bands. RO Marker bands assist surgeons with the placement and guidance of Cannulas by providing a bright visible indicator under X-Ray fluoroscopy with a level of precision that is needed for these types of procedures. A traditional marker band is a short, thin, walled tube typically machined from Gold, Tantalum, Iridium, Tungsten, or Platinum. These machined marker bands are installed at specific locations of the medical device component to allow for precise location under x-ray fluoroscopy.

The Challenge

Traditionally, marker bands are crimped or swaged onto the component where there can be significant costs associated with such machining of the Gold and labor involved for secondary installation processes, such as swaging and crimping. The risk associated with traditional marker band dislodgement is a significant drawback of standard marker bands. Vizi-Band® radiopaque marker band technology accomplishes consistent and accurate positioning of the marker coatings along the cannula, catheter, stent, guidewire, hypotube, and other similar components. Through custom tooling and in-house design fabrication, we were able to craft a solution that allows the manufacturer to reduce the labor component, cost of traditional machining method, and optimize component performance in terms of placement and marker adhesion.

The Engineered Solution

ProPlate® worked through a series of experiments to achieve comparable radiopacity to traditional marker bands. Through proprietary plating and masking technology, ProPlate® developed a solution that provided a highly radiopaque metal coating that can be selectively applied to specific areas of the cannula or desired component that can furthermore be customized to desired design requirements. ProPlate's proprietary Vizi-Band® technology helps with application performance by reducing the dimensional profile of the component. Vizi-Band® also eliminates the risk of marker dislodgement of the cannula and marker interface by atomically bonding the radiopaque coating directly to the base substrate as opposed to mechanical bonding and providing a tailored radiopaque brightness specific to desired application requirements.

Benefits:
  • Enhanced Radiopaque Visibility
  • Custom Marking Design Shape & Placement
  • Improved Distal Tip Flexibility
  • Reduced Dimensional Profile
  • Eliminate Market Band Dislodgement

Vizi-Band® Radiopaque Markers for Stents

Stent and catheter for implantation into blood vessels with an empty and filled balloon. Metal stent for implantation and supporting blood circulation into blood vessels. High resolution photography.

Radiopaque marker bands for stents presented challenges as devices became smaller, making traditional attachment methods costly, complex, and prone to dislodgement. ProPlate developed the Vizi-Band® process to selectively apply gold and platinum directly to the stent surface with precise control. The result was improved visibility under fluoroscopy with enhanced reliability and no impact on device profile or performance.

Download White Paper PDF →

The Product: Radiopaque Marker Bands for Stents

Stents are typically laser-cut metal tubes or braided cylinders which are inserted into the lumen of a catheter and are deployed to keep a specific passageway open in the body. They are commonly used in arterial surgery to prevent or treat heart attacks and strokes. Stents come in various base materials, including Stainless-Steel, Cobalt-Chromium, Nitinol, and MP35N. These materials offer excellent corrosion resistance and bio-compatibility in the body. However, the surgeon does not easily see these base materials without a radiopaque marker installed when performing surgery. The radiopaque visualization of these stents under x-ray fluoroscopy can be sub-optimal, especially when implanting stents with thin struts. Marker bands assist surgeons with positioning and guiding stents during medical procedures due to their radio-opaque properties. The marker bands act as a bright indicator under fluoroscopy, informing the surgeon where the component is in the body and how the operation is advancing.

The Challenge

As stents become increasingly smaller through miniaturization, marking them with radiopaque materials gets increasingly difficult with the traditional radiopaque marker band options available in the market. Two commonly used radiopaque materials are Gold and Platinum alloys. Attaching the precious metal to the base material can be costly, risk-prone, and time-consuming depending on the method used. The risk remains high that traditional marker bands will dislodge due to manufacturing issues. Traditional marker bands are installed on device components via welding, swaging, riveting, crimping, or soldering. Swaging requires a special machine with a die that hammers the marker band into place. Interestingly, these dies are often not corrosion resistant and require upkeep or replacement. This necessary maintenance requires machine downtime, which results in productivity and labor costs. Swaging occurs when a particular force is applied to the marker band at a high frequency well over 1000 times. The nature of swaging coupled with machine wear can lead to failures as a slightly angled marker band being out of tolerance can cut into an artery/vein wall. Precise micro-machining of highly elastic base metals is used for stents and guidewires. This adds time and cost to production through increased material and labor. These methods are prone to delamination of the metals from the base material. Thin-walled struts have small surface areas to work with and therefore limit the size of the marker band that can be attached.

The Engineered Solution

Vizi-Band® is a selective radiopaque marker coating innovation with a myriad of design options for each unique medical device application. It is a proprietary metal plating process that atomically bonds a radiopaque metal to a medical device component, such as a stent, preventing dislodgement of the markers compared to traditional radiopaque markers, which are mechanically bonded. Unlike traditional marker bands, Vizi-Band® allows for custom marker shapes, wall thickness design, and placement. Vizi-Band® deposits highly radiopaque precious metals, pure Gold & Platinum, selectively to precise locations over desired surfaces of a stent. These radiopaque precious metals impart visibility under x-ray fluoroscopy due to the high density of the plated materials while allowing the stent to maintain its mechanical functionality, especially when compared to traditional marker band alternatives. In addition, Gold and Platinum are well understood in medical use regarding device bio-compatibility and toxicity, making them suitable RO markers for anything from short-term use to permanent implant stent applications.

Benefits:
  • Potential Process Reduction
  • Enhanced Radiopaque Visibility
  • Custom Marker Design & Placement
  • Risk Reduction of Dislodgement
  • Marker-Wall-Profile Miniaturization
  • Enhance Component Mechanical Functionality
  • Complex Geometry Marker Installment

Awards and Recognition

Vizi-Band® has been recognized by the medical device industry as an innovative solution for radiopaque marker coating technology.

  • 2015 Minnesota MedTech Week Innovation Contest-Top 10 Finalist: Vizi-Band®
  • 2015 MD&M West & UBM Canon Supplier Innovation Challenge-Top 10 Finalist: Vizi-Band®
  • 2016 BIOMEDevice San Jose Innovation Contest-Top 5 Finalist: Vizi-Band®
  • 2017 BIOMEDevice Boston Must See Product-Top 11 Finalist: Vizi-Band®
  • 2017 MD&M Minneapolis Emerging Technologies Tour-Top 5 Finalist: Vizi-Band®

Vizi-Band® Prototype Products

ProPlate offers ready-to-order Vizi-Band® prototype products for medical device engineers evaluating radiopaque marker coating technology for early stage development and design validation. Products are available for direct purchase through the ProPlate shop and through our partner Chamfr.

Vizi-Band sample box

Vizi-Band® Sample Kit

Five stainless steel hypotubes with selective gold plating at various thicknesses

Shop Now
Pile of gold and platinum plated stainless steel marker bands/electrodes in various sizes

Marker Bands & Electrodes

Gold plated stainless steel marker bands and ring electrodes in various sizes.

Shop Now
Au Pull-Ring Assembly 1

Pull Ring Assemblies

Gold plated stainless steel pull ring assemblies in various sizes.

Shop Now

Need a custom configuration or have questions about a specific product? Our experts can help.

Contact Us

Frequently Asked Questions About Vizi-Band®

Vizi-Band® is ProPlate’s proprietary radiopaque marker coating process that selectively deposits gold or platinum directly onto the surface of a medical device component. Unlike traditional marker bands that are mechanically crimped or swaged onto a component, Vizi-Band® markers are atomically bonded to the substrate, eliminating the risk of dislodgement. The process uses custom tooling and masking to achieve precise marker placement at specific locations on the component.

Vizi-Band® can be applied to catheters, guidewires, hypotubes, stents, cannulas, pull rings, ring electrodes, marker bands, and other catheter-based or implantable medical device components. The process is compatible with a wide range of component geometries including complex and non-standard shapes where traditional marker bands cannot be installed.

Vizi-Band® uses gold and platinum, both of which are highly radiopaque, biocompatible, and corrosion resistant. Gold is the most commonly specified metal for radiopaque marker applications due to its high atomic density and biocompatibility. Platinum is also available for applications where its specific properties are required.

Traditional marker bands are short tubes machined from gold, platinum, tantalum, or iridium that are mechanically crimped, swaged, riveted, or soldered onto the component one at a time. They add profile, require secondary assembly steps, carry a risk of dislodgement, and must be individually attached regardless of how many markers a component requires. Vizi-Band® eliminates all of these drawbacks. The radiopaque metal is deposited directly onto the component surface through a batch plating process, meaning all marker locations on every component in the batch are coated simultaneously. A single batch run can apply thousands of markers at once compared to the same number of individual mechanical attachment operations with traditional methods. The result is lower profile, no secondary assembly, no dislodgement risk, and significantly reduced production time and labor cost at scale.

Yes. Vizi-Band® marker thickness can be specified to achieve the desired level of radiopaque brightness for the application. The Vizi-Band® sample kit includes five stainless steel hypotubes with gold Vizi-Band® at thicknesses of 500µ”, 750µ”, 1,100µ”, 1,500µ”, and 2,100µ”, allowing engineers to evaluate different brightness levels during early feasibility testing. Higher and lower thicknesses can also be accomodated.

Yes. Vizi-Band® uses gold and platinum, both of which are biocompatible precious metals. ProPlate’s Vizi-Band® Gold bath is a proprietary 99.9% pure gold formulation developed specifically for medical device applications.

Yes. ProPlate’s Vizi-Band® Radiopaque Marker Sample Kit is available for direct purchase through the ProPlate shop. The kit includes five stainless steel hypotubes with Au Vizi-Band® at different thicknesses for early feasibility testing. Gold and platinum plated marker bands, electrodes, and pull ring assemblies are also available.

Traditional marker bands must be individually attached to each component through mechanical processes such as crimping, swaging, or soldering. Each marker requires a separate attachment operation regardless of how many markers a single component requires. Vizi-Band® is a batch plating process where all marker locations across all components in a batch are coated in a single plating cycle. For example, a batch of 100 components each requiring 15 marker locations results in 1,500 markers applied simultaneously, compared to 1,500 individual attachment operations with traditional methods. This significantly reduces production time, labor cost, and the risk of process variation across large volumes.
Shopping Cart

Have questions or need more information?

Ask an Expert!

"*" indicates required fields

Drop files here or
Max. file size: 30 MB.
    This field is hidden when viewing the form
    This field is hidden when viewing the form

    METAL FINISHES & SERVICES WE DO NOT PROVIDE

    Chrome • Black Nickel • Cosmetic Jewelry