The Product: Vizi-Band®

Vizi-Band® is a radiopaque marker coating innovation. It is a proprietary metal coating process that atomically bonds directly to a catheter, guidewire, stent, or similar component. The highly radiopaque and biocompatible metal coating can be selectively applied to any section of the desired component, with endless options for customization depending on the application and intended use. Vizi-Band® is a replacement for traditional marker bands with potential performance and cost advantages.

The Challenge

The struggles with marker bands and radiopacity in medical devices encompass challenges in achieving secure attachment and stability, as they can detach or migrate during device insertion, leading to incorrect positioning. Additionally, ensuring the necessary radiopacity while maintaining mechanical properties proves difficult, often requiring a delicate balance of materials. Installing marker bands and ring electrodes into complex geometries is also a major challenge regarding traditional bands. Innovations in advanced material composites, nanotechnology, and bioabsorbable marker bands aim to address these issues, but they can sometimes fail to provide an option that will last long-term and for all applications. Vizi-Band® aims to solve these issues with a metal coating that can be applied to just the area needed that satisfies both radiopacity and device stability in the body.

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 alloys that is mechanically crimped, swaged, welded, or glued 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 minimally invasive surgical devices. 

The Engineered Solution

ProPlate® embarked on a series of studies aimed at achieving radiopacity levels comparable to traditional markers. After experimentation and analysis, ProPlate® successfully developed Vizi-Band®, a selective radiopaque and biocompatible metal coating. This innovative coating can be precisely applied to specific areas of the desired component, offering limitless possibilities for custom design and brightness. To ensure precision and consistency in the placement of the Vizi-Band® marker coating along catheters, guidewires, hypotubes, stents, and similar components, ProPlate® developed custom tooling and masking solutions which are tailored to each customer’s specific design.

Vizi-Band® not only streamlines the manufacturing process but also yields significant benefits. Manufacturers can potentially reduce labor costs associated with handling and attaching traditional marker bands, as well as lower the dimensional profile compared to traditional marker bands. Additionally, Vizi-Band® can enhance flexibility of a catheter component, resulting in improved application performance. Another advantage is its atomic bonding to the component, effectively eliminating the risk of traditional marker band dislodgement. Vizi-Band® revolutionizes marker band applications, offering heightened efficiency, potential cost savings, risk mitigation, and improved device performance.

The Benefits

• Reduce Device Profile
• Improve Distal Tip Flexibility
• Eliminate Dislodgement
• Atomically Bonded Coating
• Custom Shapes, Designs & Marker Placement
• Tailored RO Brightness