Medical Intramedullary Nails (IM Nails) Inspection

VisionGauge® for Fast, Accurate, and Robust Inspection & Measurement of Medical Intramedullary Nails

Intramedullary (IM) nails have long been used to treat fractures of long bones in the human body. An IM nail is a metal rod forced into the medullary cavity of a bone. IM nails are most often made of titanium, which provides low mechanical failure rates and good biocompatibility.

The fractures in which IM nails are used are inherently unstable. So-called ‘locking’ nails, which are now the standard, use bolts on each end of the nail to fix it to the bony cortex, thus preventing collapse or rotation between the bone fragments.

IM nails are widely used and provide an efficient, practical solution for treating a wide range of fractures (including shoulder, humerus, elbow, hip, femur & tibia…). As such, they are available in a very wide range of lengths, sizes and geometries. Also, for a given nail type and model, a variety of diameters and lengths are generally available, to accommodate varying patient anatomy.

IM Nail Inspection

VisionGauge® Can Inspect Nails of Any Size

Medical Intramedullary Nails Inspection and Measurement

Each nail is designed to be used in a very specific application to closely replicate the fractured bone’s pre-injury state. Nails often have bows that correspond to the bow of the natural bone. They can present a fluted design to moderate stiffness and facilitate nail placement. And nail tips are often designed to help the passage of the nail through the medullary canal. Finally, many nail systems include both left and right versions.

These product variations combined with their complex geometries and anatomic shapes make the inspection of medical nails very challenging. With VisionGauge®, these long parts don’t need to be inspected section-by-section like they were with traditional optical comparators. This provides a significant advantage. With VisionGauge®, the entire part can be inspected in its entirety, because the overlay tracks the part as it moves across the stage travel. This means that VisionGauge® is not limited by the length of the IM nails in any way.

The facts that VisionGauge® requires no programming and can very quickly change from one job to the next (& back…) are also huge advantages for this application. VisionGauge® can also inspect the fixation devices and instruments that often accompany the nails, which is another significant benefit.

Furthermore, for fast and accurate inspection of intramedullary nails, the VisionGauge® patented CAD Auto-Align™ and CAD Auto-PASS/FAIL™ tools are real “game-changers” as they produce fast and repeatable operator-independent results.

Finally, VisionGauge® can be used to carry out complete data capture, compute statistics, create reports and collect device history, directly on the shop floor.

Verification of IM Nails

VisionGauge® can also be used to verify the anti-rotation holes, locking tabs and other features of IM nails.

With all of its advanced, up-to-date technology, the 500 Series VisionGauge® system really is the ideal solution for the inspection and measurement of medical intramedullary nails.

Download a .pdf version of this VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator Application Note.

IM Nail Quality Measurements

Inspection of Medical/Surgical Instruments

VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparators For Accurate Inspection & Measurement Of Medical/Surgical Instruments

Surgical and medical instruments play a critical role in a wide range of medical procedures and can directly impact patient safety and outcome. It is of paramount importance for medical device manufacturers to ensure that the various surgical and medical instruments they produce meet all their design requirements and dimensional characteristics.

The 500 Series VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator is the ideal solution for achieving this goal. It was designed in close collaboration with a large medical OEM and it has the flexibility to handle the wide variety of surgical and medical instruments that exist. The system can verify all the complex features found on surgical and medical instruments and meet the wide range of measurement requirements these parts can present.

Our digital optical comparators are a non-contact solution that provides transmitted as well as various types of on-axis and oblique reflected illumination to allow users to inspect all areas of the parts, even those with very complex geometries!

Surgical instruments inspection

Perfect to check a wide range of surgical & medical instruments

Because it’s a fast system that can be used directly on the production floor, when it identifies a defect users can often take direct corrective action and remedy the problem, rather than continuing adding value to an out-of-spec part. The VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator really does make the measurement process more efficient and helps reduce cost for manufacturers. It allows them to increase productivity and shorten inspection & measurement times.

The VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator offers a deep toolbox of specialized inspection and measurement modes to enable, for example, the accurate measurement of the location of grooves, markings and other types of unconventional features that specialized medical instruments can display. The system is also ideal for dealing with complex surfaces and geometries and parts made of unconventional and difficult-to-measure materials.

Medical instrument Pass/Fail inspection

Automatically Compare Parts to their CAD File and Get an Automatic PASS / FAIL Result

  • Fast!
  • Accurate!
  • Very General-Purpose & Widely-Applicable System!
  • Easy to operate!
Surgical tools inspection

The VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator is an all-in-one solution for the inspection and measurement of surgical and medical instruments. It provides manufacturers with the flexibility and repeatability they need to optimise even their most challenging workflows.

The VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator is a multi-purpose machine that has the flexibility to support the quality needs of the full range of products produced by medical manufacturers.

With VisionGauge®, instruments with cutting edges such as scissors, rongeurs, chisels, curettes, etc., can be checked for sharpness and to ensure that there are no dull spots, chips, or dents. Hinged instruments such as clamps and forceps can be checked for alignment of jaws and teeth. And so on… The system’s great ease-of-use and flexibility make it the ideal solution for just about every type of medical instrument.

The VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator delivers maximum performance and is ideal for fast and automated data collection & reporting. It is perfect for ensuring the traceability of medical instruments!

There are many reasons why the VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator is widely used by many manufacturers in the medical industry – both large and small – to check medical instruments:

  • Automatically compare parts to their CAD data (no more overlays!)
  • With its proprietary patented CAD-Auto-Align™ and CAD-Auto-Pass/Fail™ tools, the system can check parts completely automatically!
  • Demonstrated accuracy down to +/-0.0001″ in real-world applications, directly on the shop floor!
  • Eliminate operator subjectivity!
  • Much faster than traditional approaches.
  • Because there is no programming, this system is especially well adapted for small lots & quick part changeover
  • Automatically collect measurements, statistics, images and other data for complete documentation. Automatically collect complete device history!
  • The system is not limited to the camera’s field-of-view; It can compare a part to its CAD data across the entire stage travel. So even large parts can be checked at high magnification, with very fine resolution.
  • With its extended optical depth-of-field and Auto-Focus tool, the system is perfectly suited to deal with the challenges of medical instrument inspection.
  • Different types of adapted computer-controlled LED illumination are available to eliminate glare and make defects stand out
  • Automatically measure and display deviations from nominal and quickly identify out-of-tolerance areas. The system has an extensive measurement toolset!
  • The system is extremely easy-to-use and is perfectly adapted for the production floor!

The VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator is rapidly becoming the new standard for inspecting instruments in the medical industry.

Medical instruments inspection of cutting edges
Inspection of Medical Instruments

Perfect to check a wide range of medical instruments

Contact us about the details of your application and learn more about the other applications VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparators can solve.

Download a .pdf version of this Application Note.

Stent Inspection and Measurement

The Perfect Solution for Stent Inspection and Measurement

Stents are critical precision devices in which no manufacturing imperfections can be accepted. The VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator is your complete solution to carry out the inspection and measurement of coronary, endovascular, and other types of stents.

stent pattern example

What Are Stents?

Stents are small, expandable tubes used to treat narrowed arteries. They are a crucial part of treating many health conditions and are often made of metal. As a piece of medical equipment that enters the body, stent manufacturing leaves no room for error. Our inspection systems help you ensure quality control in your stent measurement efforts.

How the VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator Can Improve Your Stent Inspection and Measurement

The VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator offers comprehensive metrology for stent manufacturing to help you ensure high quality in every stent that passes through your production line.

With VisionGauge®, you can quickly perform fast and highly accurate inspections on 100% of your parts, directly on the production floor. Our unbiased stent measurement and inspection tools completely eliminate operator subjectivity for dependable results every time.

VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparators have a broad set of measurement, defect detection, and pattern-matching tools to quickly, easily, and accurately carry out all required verifications. Our solutions range from manual to fully automated, so you can choose the right one for your operation.

With no limitations on stent length or diameter, you can verify parts across the entire stage travel and check even large parts at high magnification with very fine resolution. The system supports both bare-metal uncoated stents and drug-eluting coated stents.

Our stent manufacturing quality control and inspection solutions offer precision and performance with advanced patented and patent-pending technology and powerful features like:

  • An integrated 4th axis rotating mandrel for full 360° inspection at very high resolution
  • Extended optical depth-of-field and long working distances to meet the challenges of stent inspection
  • Automatic measurements and displaying deviations from nominal, so you can quickly identify out-of-tolerance areas
  • Operator review tools you can use for defect evaluation and classification
  • Automatic collection of measurement results, statistics, images, and additional data for complete electronic documentation and reporting

The VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator can verify stent integrity, measure critical dimensions, and verify patterns. Our systems are fast, easy-to-operate, and highly-accurate – capable of exceeding the most demanding inspection requirements.

Verify Stent Integrity

Verify stent integrity & measure critical dimensions

various lengths of stents are supported

VisionGauge® supports different types, lengths & diameters of stents

stent pattern example
Another supported stent example pattern
another example stent pattern

Able to verify different patterns

Download a .pdf version of this Application Note.

Contact us with your application requirements and to learn more about additional applications successfully using the VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator.

Learn More About Metrology Solutions for Stent Manufacturing

Patients and providers should never wonder if their stents were built properly. You can ensure quality results with every product through dependable stent measurement and inspection tools.

The VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator supports stent manufacturers with a range of advanced features and a system that prioritizes accuracy and flexibility. We’ll help you choose and implement the right solution for your operations and can even provide training services to help you use it as effectively as possible.

Reach out to us today to discuss your application with a representative or learn more about how our customers use the VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator.

Automatic Bone Screw Inspection and Measurement with VisionGauge®

VisionGauge® for Orthopedic Screw Inspection

Orthopedic reconstructive and reparative procedures commonly use medical bone screws as fixation devices. Among other applications, they are employed for bone-to-bone fixation. The bone heals better and faster if the fractures are pressed together firmly by orthopedic screws. The advantage of these screws is that they reduce the gap between the bones, and, consequently, decrease the stress. Another common use of medical bone screws is to attach various implants, such as plates, to the bone. Medical bone screws are also utilized for a variety of other general anchorage and fixation purposes.

The VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator is widely used by medical device manufacturers for automated inspection and orthopedic/medical bone screw measurement.

Bone screw teeth verification with the VisionGauge® “Tooth Checker™” tool

Patented CAD-Auto-Align™, CAD-Auto-Pass/Fail™ & Tooth Checker™ tools are perfect for locating the teeth crests and/or roots and checking the part’s profile

X-ray showing fracture after stabilization with dynamic hip screw with long plate

X-ray showing fracture after stabilization with dynamic hip screw with long plate

Benefits of Bone Screw Inspection with VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparators

VisionGauge® introduces several unique benefits in its application to medical bone screw measurement and inspection, including:

Proprietary CAD-Auto-Align and CAD-Auto-Pass/Fail tools for bone screw measurement

  • Compare bone screws directly to their CAD part design data.
  • The system checks screws 100% automatically in any orientation using its proprietary, patented CAD Auto-Align™ and CAD Auto-Pass/Fail™ tools.
  • The patented VisionGauge® Tooth Checker™ inspects the screw thread profile automatically, to verify all the peaks and valleys respect their specified tolerance band, regardless of the screw’s clocking.
  • Removes all operator subjectivity!
  • Automatically collects all result data for a complete device inspection history, including measurements, statistics, images, and more.
  • An extended depth-of-field permits the entire screw to be in focus – even at the helix angle, so there is no need for constantly refocusing!
  • Measure all of the screw’s characteristics to very high accuracy, completely automatically:  Major/minor diameters, spacing and tooth pitch, runout, and other characteristics…
  • As an option, the system supports a rotary stage for very accurate, automated measurement of the helix angle.
  • The system is perfectly suited for bone screw inspection and measurement directly from the shop floor.
CAD Auto Pass/Fail and CAD Auto-Align tools on the VisionGauge Digital Optical Comparator inspecting threads and other features of interest on bone screws.

Check all the features of interest, quickly and to very high accuracy.

Multiple bone screws ready for automated inspection on the VisionGauge Digital Optical Comparator

Load multiple screws onto the system to have them all checked completely automatically

Features and Supported Bone Screw Measurements with VisionGauge®

Bone screw nomenclature for measurements

Orthopedic bone screws are made up of different features, with the principal features comprised of the head, thread, and tip. Different requirements apply to each feature to ensure proper overall performance of the screw. These diverse requirements can considerably complicate the inspection of bone screws. However, VisionGauge® can easily check 100% of the features over the entire screw, including its threads, head, and tip.

The importance of proper bone screw measurement and inspection, both during the manufacturing process and at final inspection, cannot be overstated. Proper inspection allows bone screw manufacturers to ensure correct performance, conformance to specifications, and reduced variability of the final product. Furthermore, real-time inspection and measurement with VisionGauge® allows medical manufacturers to optimize the manufacturing process, reduce overall manufacturing costs, improve process control and enable process & part improvement. VisionGauge®’s statistics, data collection & exchange, and reporting provide manufacturers with product traceability and device history.

Automatic thread inspection: Automatically detect crests and roots in major/minor diameters of teeth or screw threads with VisionGauge®’s Patented “Tooth Checker™”.

VisionGauge®’s patented Tooth Checker™ is a fundamental feature for this optimal inspection of bone screw threads. The tool is easy-to-use, and it imposes no limits on the part geometry. It can quickly ensure that the thread peaks and valleys are all located within the specification’s tolerance band, regardless of the screw’s clocking. This powerful, unique tool represents a dramatic advance for bone screw inspection technology. For medical bone screw manufacturers, an accurate thread profile is critical since a number of the screw’s properties (e.g., its pull-out strength…) directly depend on the screw thread profile. These manufacturers will appreciate the completely operator-independent results and many other drastic improvements presented by VisionGauge®’s patented Tooth Checker™ tool compared to the traditional optical comparator and overlay charts approach historically used to control screw threads.

VisionGauge® is capable of measuring 100% of the screw’s critical dimensions and features, including:

  • Major diameter
  • Minor diameter
  • Helix angle
  • Thread pitch
  • Pitch Diameter
  • Lead/trailing flank angles
  • Root radii
  • Lead
  • Taper
  • Circularity
  • and more…
Automatic inspection and measurement of threads and other dimensions of a bone screw

Automatically check screw dimensions

Bone screw head measurements

Check all of the features on the head

Finally, a dedicated complete dual-rotary assembly, designed specifically for the fully automated inspection and measurement of bone screws, is also available. It allows the full rotation of the screw (to check run-out, for example), its orientation at the helix angle, etc… This package also includes dedicated workholding (either pneumatic or manual) compatible with bone screws that have a thru hole as well as those without. When fitted with a pneumatic chuck, this dedicated dual-rotary assembly allows VisionGauge® to be used in a fully-automated bone screw manufacturing cell, with robot loading and unloading, for complete “lights out” operation.

Additional Information About Orthopedic Screws

There exists a wide range of orthopedic screws and they are often named after the type of bones in which they are inserted during the surgery. A few common types include:

  • Cortical screws that are designed for anchoring a cortical bone and have threads with a very fine pitch. Cortical bones are dense and compact.
  • Cancellous screws have coarser threads that are smooth, with unthreaded portion that allows the screw to act as a lag screw. A cancellous screw is longer than a cortical screw. Cancellous bones are also termed as spongy bones since they are a bit softer than the cortical bones. Examples of such bones include the ribs and pelvic bones.
  • Cannulated screws, that have a hollow shaft.
  • Herbert orthopedic screws are a variable pitch cannulated screw that are designed for fractures in small articular bones, such as the carpals. These screws are used mainly where a standard screw would affect adjacent tissue, such as in the case of the treatment of scaphoideum or osteoarticular fractures.
  • And many others as well…

With its wide range of measurement tools and great flexibility, VisionGauge® is the perfect tool for inspecting and measuring 100% of the features on all of the different types of bone screws.

variety of surgical screws

VisionGauge® includes complete inspection and measurement toolsets for checking and verifying a wide variety of surgical screws.

Thoracic lumbar vertebra pedicle screws

Thoracic lumbar vertebra pedicle screws.

Orthopedic screws can be made of different materials and have a wide range of coatings. Titanium, stainless steel and bio-absorbable materials, that get absorbed by the body over time, are the most common types of materials for bone screws. By design, bone screws require hard-to-machine materials. This only compounds the difficulties involved in machining their complex threads. This further increases the importance of complete and proper inspection and measurement of bone screws throughout their manufacturing process, for proper control. With its flexible illumination modules and powerful adaptive measurement tools, VisionGauge® has no problem accommodating any of the variations in bone screw material and finish.

X-ray of wrist fracture stabilized with plate and bone screws

For inspection and measurement of orthopedic screws on the VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator, some manufacturers use horizontal configurations, while others use a vertical configuration. The decision to use one or the other is generally based on fixturing considerations. The hard chrome plated stage, made from hardened tooling steel, has industry standard dual dovetail grooves that make it compatible with existing mounting fixtures, and a drop-in replacement for traditional optical comparators. Rotary stages are also an option that can be added to these systems.

The VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator is the new standard in measuring and controlling the geometry of medical/orthopedic bone screws. Screw manufacturers can ensure their product has good dimensional accuracy and surface finish while also significantly reducing inspection times and overall cost. Operator-to-operator variation is entirely eliminated with this system, and manufacturers are capable of automatically collecting accurate screw dimensions and inspection result data, computing process statistics, and automating complete inspection reports. The VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator is an invaluable tool for process control and quality improvement, and it represents a significant advantage in modern competitive medical markets for bone screw manufacturers.

Download a .pdf version of this VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator Application Note.

Plastic/Polymer Medical Implants

VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator For Accurate & Robust Inspection & Measurement Of Plastic Medical Implants

A wide variety of plastic materials are used in medical implants. For example, today most total knee replacement implants and many total hip replacement implants contain ultra-high molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). Among other benefits, this plastic provides cushioning and movement. Other examples of plastic medical implants include high density polyethylene (HDPE) for facial reconstruction implants and polyketones (PEEK) that are common for spinal applications. For the right applications, plastic materials can present significant benefits as plastics are in general both more resistant to chemicals and lighter than metals. Given all of this, it’s not surprising that the range of medical implant applications for plastics is very wide.

Total hip/knee replacement implants
hip stem replacement - radiograph

Total hip and knee replacement systems are made up of both metal & plastic components

Many plastic medical implants can be produced using conventional manufacturing processes such as CNC machining, injection molding, and 3D printing. This allows the fabrication of medical implants with very complex and unique geometries.

Plastic Medical Implant Inspection

However, like with all medical implants, the tight geometries involved need to be precisely controlled. In the past, this was often problematic as traditional optical comparators, historically one of the most used inspection systems for medical implants, have struggled when dealing with plastic parts. Specifically, the image of plastic parts produced by these systems tends to exhibit lots of glare and reflections. With traditional optical comparators, it’s often difficult to determine an appropriate level of illumination for plastic and polymer implants that allows the user to make out the features of interest without creating an over-brilliance of other surfaces. It’s a difficult balance that tends to introduce even more operator-subjectivity.

Digital Optical Comparators Ensure Quality Control of Plastic Medical Implants

The VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator overcomes all these limitations. Its illumination is based on new and completely different technology that produces crisp and clear high-resolution images, with high contrast and superb definition, of plastic parts. Furthermore, all of VisionGauge®’s illumination is LED-based and programmable. This eliminates operator-to-operator variability and produces repeatable illumination conditions for extremely repeatable plastic parts measurements!

Medical polymer implants for inspection
Plastic implants for medical inspection

Plastic implants come in many different geometries to carry out a wide range of functions

Medical plastic part inspection
Medical plastic implant measurements
Medical industry plastic implant measurements

VisionGauge®’s illumination works just as well on plastic parts as it does on metal parts

Medical polymer implant measurement

The crisp & sharp edges produced by VisionGauge® allow for very accurate measurements

LED-based Illumination for High-accuracy Measurement

VisionGauge®’s illumination is extremely flexible and many different types are available (i.e. transmitted, reflected on-axis and off-axis, etc.). The LED-based illumination also produces very low heat, requires very little power and remains stable over a very long lifetime.

With its new, advanced and flexible illumination, the VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator is the ideal solution for detailed inspection and high-accuracy measurement of the wide variety of plastic medical implants being produced by today’s medical manufacturers – directly on the shop floor with no operator-to-operator variability.

Contact us about the details of your application and learn more about the other applications VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparators can solve.

Download a .pdf version of this Application Note.

Orthopedic/Medical Rasp Inspection and Measurement

VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparators are the Perfect Solution for Inspecting Orthopedic/Medical Rasps

The VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator is widely used by orthopedic implant manufacturers to check medical rasps for a number of reasons:

  • Automatically compare parts to their CAD data (no more overlays!)
  • With its patented CAD Auto-Align™ and CAD Auto-Pass/Fail™ tools, the system can check rasps completely automatically!
  • VisionGauge®’s patented Tooth Checker™ tool automatically identifies the part’s teeth and allows you to check all roots and crests against their tolerances.Medical Rasp Inspection with a VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator
  • Check the entire profile at once or each tooth individually, directly on the shop floor!
  • Eliminate operator subjectivity!
  • Much faster than traditional approaches.
  • Because the system doesn’t require any programming, it is especially well-adapted for small lots and quick part changeover.
  • Automatically collect measurements, images, statistics, and other data for complete device history documentation.
  • The system is not limited to the camera’s field-of-view; It can compare a part directly to its CAD data across the entire stage travel, so even large parts can be checked at high magnification, with very fine resolution.
  • The system is perfectly suited to deal with challenging applications in orthopedic implant inspection with its extended optical depth-of-field and Auto-Focus tool.
  • Different types of adapted computer-controlled LED illumination are supported to eliminate glare and make defects stand out. The system works extremely well on both metal & plastic parts!
  • Automatically measure and display deviations from nominal and quickly identify out-of-tolerance areas.
customized medical rasp inspection
Medical rasps inspection with multiple entities verification

The system is very flexible and supports different inspection approaches depending on what you want to check…

Examples of measurements performed on medical rasps

Measure tooth height, tooth spacing, tooth angle, tooth bottom radius, etc…

Front Illumination of a Medical Rasp

The system’s front illumination produces a very sharp image showing a very high level of detail.

The VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator is the new standard for inspecting rasps, orthopedic tools, and implants in the medical industry. Contact us with your application for more information and videos showing rasps inspection in action.

Download a .pdf version of this VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator Application Note here.

VisionGauge®’s Patent Pending “Tooth Checker™” Tool

VisionGauge®’s Patent Pending “Tooth Checker™” tool is specially adapted to check parts
with teeth

VisionGauge®’s powerful and innovative patent pending “Tooth Checker™” tool automatically locates, to very high accuracy, the crests and / or roots of  a part’s teeth or threads and determines if they are within their tolerance band. It can also determine all other part characteristics, such as tooth pitch, thread depth, major & minor diameters, etc…

Bone screw teeth verification with the VisionGauge® “Tooth Checker™” tool
  • Fully automated
  • Completely independent of part orientation & clocking
  • With a rotary stage the crest and root points can be used to calculate part runout
  • Can also be applied to parts that are larger than the field-of-view
  • The tool is usable in both manual and fully-automated modes (i.e. within an automated program)
  • The tool produces a PASS / FAIL result (which can be exported and used in all of the same ways as the current PASS / FAIL results) and also shows where the part passes and where it fails
  • Supports linearly variable tolerances, plus/minus tolerances, plus/plus tolerances, minus/minus tolerances, etc…
  • Smart “Adaptive Thresholding” automatically disregards point imperfections

Perfect for quickly and accurately checking:

  • Bone screws
  • Medical rasps
  • Gears
  • Fluted Instruments
  • Threads & fittings
  • Etc…
Medical Rasp Inspection and Verification

The Tooth Checker tool can check that either crests, roots, or both, are in tolerance

Automatic thread inspection: Automatically detect crests and roots in major/minor diameters of teeth or screw threads with VisionGauge®’s new Patent Pending “Tooth Checker™”.

Quick & Easy to Set Up!

VisionGauge Tooth Checker Nomenclature

Using the crest & root points that the Tooth Checker tool has found, it can then automatically determine all other part characteristics

Overview Video:

Our new Advanced Analysis and Report tools also allow operators to follow-up a Tooth Checker™ operation to review, explore, and label results at each cross section of interest in the field-of-view.

CAD Auto-Pass/Fail Entity Cross Section Analysis on a Fir Tree Inspection

Download a .pdf version of this VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator Application note here.

Inspection & Measurement of Orthopedic Implants

The Ideal Solution for Orthopedic Implant Inspection (including knees, hips, plates, shoulders, and many more)

Performing a quality inspection on orthopedic implants presents a number of challenges. There are a wide variety of implant sizes and shapes, and they have complex geometries that require tight tolerances. 100% inspection is a necessity and it is unacceptable to miss even one defect. It is common for implants to be manufactured in small lots so there is very high product changeover. Therefore, it is very advantageous that product inspection takes place directly on the production floor. And if any programming is required on the quality inspection system, it needs to be fast, easy, and as error-free as possible.

The VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator was originally developed with extensive collaboration with a large medical OEM to meet the requirements of orthopedic implant measurement and inspection, so this inspection is one of their ideal applications.

These systems are accurate, very fast, and require minimal to no programming. The system can operate directly on the shop floor and can produce automated inspection reports and gather complete device history: Collect images, Pass/Fail results, measurements, statistics with graphs/charts and output all data from an inspection to a centralized database. Unique and patented tools like CAD Auto-Align™ and CAD Auto-Pass/Fail™ efficiently and automatically compare a part directly to its CAD file to very high accuracy, automatically and completely without operator variation or subjectivity. These systems are successful on a broad range of applications. The VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator has no limitations to part geometry and a wide range of implants are easily supported, including both metal and plastic.

Knee implant inspected with auto pass/fail on a VisionGauge Digital Optical Comparator
orthopedic implant inspection of a plate with CAD Auto-Pass/Fail on a VisionGauge Digital Optical Comparator
Inspection and measurement of a plastic part on a VisionGauge Digital Optical Comparator
VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparators also work extremely well inspecting plastic parts!

There are many reasons why VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparators are employed by orthopedic implants manufacturers to inspect and measure the medical implants and devices they produce:

  • Compare products directly to their CAD data, completely automatically (no more overlays or Mylars!)
  • VisionGauge®’s patented CAD Auto-Align™ and CAD Auto-Pass/Fail™ tools are easy to use to automatically inspect and measure parts, and they produce very high-accuracy results.
  • Accuracy down to +/-0.0001″ demonstrated in real-world applications, directly from the shop floor!
  • VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparators are proven faster and allow for significant gains in throughput compared to traditional comparators.
  • Results are 100% consistent between users – No more variation from operator to operator!
  • Automated programs can be stored and recalled per part as needed or the system can be used in manual mode – either way, the system is especially well suited for inspecting small lots with rapid part changeover.
  • The systems provide multiple options for complete documentation and reporting of statistics, measurements, images, and other data.
  • The system’s extended optical depth-of-field and Auto-Focus tool easily overcome the difficulties of orthopedic implant inspection.
  • Make defects truly stand out and entirely remove glare with multiple options for adapted computer-controlled LED illumination. VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparators produce stunning results on both metal and plastic parts!
  • Automatically measure and display deviations from nominal:  Quickly and easily locate areas out of tolerance.
  • VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparators are not limited to performing inspections only in the camera’s field-of-view:  A part can be compared to its CAD/DXF data across the entire stage travel. Check large and long parts at high magnification and very fine resolution with ease.

Our 500 Series Digital Optical Comparators are perfect to inspect a wide range of orthopedic implants and devices: knees, hips, plates, shoulders, and many more…

inspection of a very wide range of orthopaedic implants

The VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator is used by many medical device manufacturers to carry out the inspection of a very wide range of orthopaedic implants

Bone Screw Tooth Checker

With its patent pending Tooth Checker™ tool the VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator is perfect for inspecting medical bone screws

Hip stem inspection (orthopedic device) and measurement on a VisionGauge Digital Optical Comparator with CAD Auto-Align.
Orthopedic forging inspection on a VisionGauge Digital Optical Comparator

The systems are also widely used in the inspection of forgings.

The VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator is the new standard for inspecting orthopedic implants in the medical industry. Contact us to find out how we can solve your application.

Download a .pdf version of this VisionGauge® Digital Optical Comparator Application note here. Learn more about other inspection and measurement applications solved by our systems. A press release from November 2023 is also available.