Nitinol is an incredible material with many applications, especially in the medical device industry. Even when placed under great stress, Nitinol returns to its original shape when stress is released or when heat is applied. This is why nitinol Flex Drills and Nitinol Wires are of great interest to medical OEMs.
What is Nitinol?
Nitinol is an alloy that contains nearly equal parts Titanium and Nickel and offers remarkable elasticity and shape memory. These properties were rediscovered in 1962, igniting commercial interest in the metallic compound. Towards the end of the 20th century, nitinol became sought after in the medical engineering realm as super elasticity was a useful property when designing medical devices and implants that would enable medical procedures to be less invasive. However, the alloy also has several other important qualities, including:
- Biocompatibility
- Resistance to kinks
- Compatibility with magnetic resonance imaging
- Corrosion resistance
Currently, there are Catheter-based & Orthopedic implants made from Nitinol that are designed to return to their preformed shape when implanted at body temperature for the implant to be permanently placed. When compared to other alloys like stainless steel, titanium, or Cobalt-Chrome alloys, nitinol can withstand a greater number of reversible deformations.
Utilizing Nitinol in Medical Devices
Nitinol Wires has many applications in medical device manufacturing, such as for the production of catheters, guidewires, stents, and needles. Nitinol Wires can be used in the building of catheters, complex catheters, spine surgery & robotic navigation devices. The Flex Drill is a flexible drill option for difficult joint surgeries & sportsmed devices. The drill is designed to achieve tight tolerances, flexibility and strength in complex medical devices.
Some of the key features of the Nitinol Wires include:
- Ability to produce catheters with hole diameters that range from 0.015 to 0.197 in.
- Can be robotically controlled.
- Ability to produce nitinol catheters with tight tolerances.
With this technology, Medical Component Specialists can rapidly produce nitinol catheters from nitinol wires. Because of this dedication to innovation, MCS has quickly become a preferred supplier of precision medical components from wire, rod, and tubing to Medical OEMs throughout the US. If you’d like to learn more about our nitinol manufacturing capabilities, get in touch with our knowledgeable team today.
