AUTOMATED STENT INSPECTION SYSTEM

摘要

A method for the rapid optical inspection of stents (20) is described wherein a stent (20) is mounted on a mandrel (1, 2) with optical properties suitable for machine vision inspection of the stent (20) is conveyed to a first inspection station containing a camera (23) and illumination light source (24). A driving member (12) securely contacts the mandrel (1, 2) and the stent (20) is rotated in view of the inspection camera (23). The stent (20) is then transferred to a second location for further operations. A unique identification tag (5) is associated with each mandrel (1, 2) and tracks the location of the stent (20) through the inspection process.