Joining a winding to a connector using a transition ring

Abstract

A technique for joining an elongated wound element and a mating connector of a body implantable lead assembly comprises the steps of causing an end portion of the wound element to abut against a first end of a transition component having similar mass and heat transmission characteristics. The wound element is a coil of wire and the transition component is a ring member, both of which have similar inner and outer diameters. Further, the wire has a nominal diameter and the ring member has a similar transverse dimension. A laser beam is targeted generally at the location at which the end portion of the wound element abuts against the first end of the transition component such that the energy delivered thereto is substantially balanced between the wound element and the transition element, thereby thermally fusing the wound element and the transition component. The wound element and the transition component may be fabricated of the same alloy or of dissimilar alloys. Thereafter, a second end of the transition component distant from the first end is caused to abut against an end portion of the mating connector and the second end of the transition component is thermally fused to the end portion of the mating connector. In another embodiment, the ring member has an annular flange adjacent the first end, the annular flange being reduced in diameter substantially to the outer diameter of the wound element and of the mating connector upon completion of the thermal fusing step.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.