Memry Corp., Bethel, Conn., an SAES Getters Company, offers Nitinol products available in Redox, a new alloy with 80% fewer oxides and smaller particle size. The result is enhanced microcleanliness and enhanced confidence. The industry measures nitinol microcleanliness by the amount of non-metallic inclusions and porosity. Typical non-metallic inclusions are carbides (TiC), and intermetallic oxides (Ti4Ni2Ox). The size and distribution of inclusions like these play a critical role for device designers who work with nitinol.

Nitinol Devices and Components (NDC), Fremont, Calif., offers a wide range of materials in wire, strip, sheet, tubing, and bar form. It was the first company to process laser-cut, self-expanding stents for the medical device industry, and pioneered electropolishing techniques to achieve biocompatible surfaces for medical implants. Its materials meet ASTM standards and reportedly have the lowest carbon content and the tightest tolerances in the industry.

MedShape Inc., Atlanta, reports that during its targeted soft launch period, DynaNail has been successfully implanted in over 100 tibiotalocalcaneal (TTC) fusion procedures. Because the internal nickel titanium (Nitinol) element maintains the target fusion bones in close apposition and under sustained compression, fusions are being observed with the DynaNail TTC Fusion System in high-risk patients, specifically those who require bone allografts.

A research team at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Calif., has discovered a way to introduce a recoverable strain into bismuth ferrite of up to 14% on the nanoscale, larger than any shape-memory effect observed in a metal. Bismuth ferrite is a multiferroic compound comprised of bismuth, iron, and oxygen. It displays both ferroelectric and ferromagnetic properties, meaning it will respond to the application of external electric or magnetic fields.