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Nitinol - its use in vascular surgery and other applications
1Departments of Vascular Surgery, Monash Medical Centre and Epworth Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
Objectives:
to describe the physical properties of shape-memory alloys and the surgical, scientific and commercial applications of nitinol, in particular.
Design And Methods:
a Medline, Internet and library search with contributions from commerce to describe the alloy's structure, behaviour and biocompatibility, and design for devices constructed from nitinol.
Results:
nitinol has the properties of thermal shape memory and superelasticity that make it ideal for many vascular and general surgical prostheses and disposables, and for various commercial applications.
Conclusions:
further research into shape-memory alloys from scientific and commercial groups should widen their use in vascular and endovascular surgery.