Lighting the way

Brandon Medical recently teamed up with Laser Prototypes to help produce the latest in their range of award winning surgical lighting.

Brandon Medical has redefined the boundaries of operating theatre lighting through the incorporation of HD LED lighting technology. The HD LED Quasar lighting system produces the biggest, fattest and most powerful beam of any surgical light, spread evenly across the illuminated field to create “perfect light” for surgical environments. This is further evidence of this UK lighting firms’ ability to achieve “brilliance by design”. As the only British manufacturer of operating theatre lamps, with a strong reputation for innovation and design, Brandon required a fast professional solution to their low volume manufacturing requirement.

The challenge however of such a high value, low volume lighting solution lies in the creation of cost efficiencies. To meet this challenge, Brandon Medical turned to Laser Prototypes, the UKs longest established Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing service bureau for assistance in manufacturing the plastic housing components for the new lamp. Laser Prototypes specialise in the production of one off prototype medical parts, along with low volume rapid production of parts using SLA, Selective Laser Sintering, Vacuum Casting, as well as CNC, finishing and model painting services.

Offering a significant reduction in tooling costs, production costs and lead times without compromising part quality, Vacuum Casting presented the ideal solution.

Initially Laser Prototypes produced an SLA prototype which allowed verification of the design. This was then used as a master pattern to create a silicone rubber mould. Castings were produced from the silicone mould to the exact finish and colour specified by the customer. Cost effective and fast (a mould is typically a few hundred pounds and can be produced within 1 – 2 days!), Vacuum Casting allowed Laser Prototypes to deliver high quality production parts in days, thus ensuring Brandon Medical took their award winning product to market sooner, while eliminating the costs of expensive tooling and holding large volumes of stock.