Salt baths increase stability in the medical device tempering process

Calibration baths, like salt baths, were originally for calibrating temperature assets. But there’s another use for them: manufacturing Nitinol medical devices.

Travis Porter, Fluke Calibration

The Fluke Calibration 6050H Extremely High Temperature Calibration Salt Bath (left) can handle high temperatures (550 °C) with stability (±0.002 °C) and uniformity (±0.005 °C). The Fluke Calibration 6331 Deep-Well Compact Bath (right) can handle both high (300 °C) and low (-80°C) temperature with excellent stability (±0.005 °C) and uniformity (±0.007 °C). [Images courtesy of Fluke Calibration]

Nitinol is a nickel-titanium alloy that exhibits both thermal shape memory behavior and super-elasticity. It’s a great metal to use in medical devices because it’s possible to set the wire or mesh design into a form using the tempering process. Then, fold it up into a fraction of end size to use in minimal…
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