Medical instrument and medical instrument manufacture

A method for manufacturing a guide tube of a medical instrument comprising a shaft extending between a distal end and a proximal end, a housing at the proximal end of the shaft, at least one effector at the distal end of the shaft, at least one control element for mechanically controlling the effector, and a guide tube extending parallel to the shaft, wherein the control element extends at least in portions through the guide and wherein the guide tube is provided at least in portions, along a guide tube longitudinal extent, with lateral cutouts, through which the guide tube is accessible for cleaning media, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a workpiece in a form of a semi-finished product having a thin-walled tubular body with a longitudinal axis extending between a first end and a second end;
• providing an ultrashort pulse laser;
• clamping the workpiece in a workpiece holder;
• operating the ultrashort pulse laser to process the workpiece by sublimation;
• creating a plurality of cutouts in the workpiece comprising:
• generating a coordinated relative movement between the tubular body and the ultrashort pulse laser with the ultrashort pulse laser activated, comprising a translational movement along the longitudinal axis and a pivoting movement with respect to the longitudinal axis to create a cut-out section in the workpiece, which cut-out section defines each cutout, and
• generating a feed movement between the tubular body and the ultrashort pulse laser with the ultrashort pulse laser deactivated, comprising a translational movement along the longitudinal axis to create the lateral cutouts that are spaced apart from one another.