Iron-molybdenum composite wires for thin vascular or cerebrovascular devices A new concept from Fort Wayne Metals R&D leverages our knowledge of absorbable metal alloy systems, our experience with producing DFT® wire composites, and our unique patent portfolio. We have produced several composite wires with FeMnN alloy shells and one or more Mo filaments embedded within. Published: February 6th, 2023
Superelastic conductor material with enhanced fatigue durability for implantable lead service A new patent-pending technology to enhance the fatigue life of biostimulation leads used in devices like pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators, deep brain stimulators, and spinal cord and peripheral nerve stimulators is under development in Fort Wayne Metals R&D. Published: August 22nd, 2022
Composite wire with enhanced radiopacity, elasticity, and electrochemical behavior A new patent-pending technology to enhance the radiopacity (x-ray visibility) of wires is under development in Fort Wayne Metals R&D. Building upon our DFT® wire platform, this technique replaces the typically metallic core material with a radiopaque powder. Published: April 1st, 2021
Super-Elastic Alloys with Gigapascal Plateau Strengths Fort Wayne Metals has developed a group of NiTi based super-elastic (SE) alloys that have upper plateau strengths above 1.0 GPa (1000-1500 MPa) and lower plateau strengths above 600 MPa. Published: March 4th, 2021
Stress Corrosion Testing of Mg Wire The R&D team at Fort Wayne Metals regularly participates in many of the leading academic conferences in the fields we work in. Doing so allows us to share our recent advances, stay up to date on the latest cutting-edge work, and most importantly, connect with the students, professors, engineers, and clinicians whose combined efforts ultimately turn scientific advances into concrete benefits to society. Published: December 10th, 2020
Nickel-free beta-titanium Alloy with Large and Stable Room Temperature Superelasticity Fort Wayne Metals has developed a Ni-free ß-Ti alloy showing large and stable superelastic properties at room temperatures. Mechanical properties and fatigue performance of this alloy are within the neighborhood of superelastic NiTi alloys. Published: November 23rd, 2020
Superlative Strength Wire and Cable for Force Transmission Several Ultra-High-Strength (UHS) wires are produced that may be well suited to high strength wire, strands, cables and ropes used in robotics force transmission and other high-performance mono- and multifilament wire applications where high strength, low stretch and fatigue durability are important. Published: August 7th, 2020
A CoNiCr-Nitinol Composite Wire for Guidewire Type Applications Fort Wayne Metals has developed a composite wire technology with integrated proximal-to-tip guidewire performance in mind. One critical area in medical device practice is in vascular access guidewires. Many workhorse guidewires, 0.3302 mm to 0.3556 mm [0.013 in to 0.014 in], use a stiff material body (often stainless steel or CoNiCr) for control and a superelastic Nitinol tip for flexible navigation. The combination of properties for these hybrid wires is often used for effective navigation to areas of the heart, brain, and vessels of appendages. Published: February 17th, 2020
What will you make with grooved wire? In today's update, we've proposed a few applications where grooved wire could enable additional functionality in your next generation of devices. Published: May 23rd, 2019
Fort Wayne Metals Co-authors Article Posted for Royal Society of Chemistry Fort Wayne Metals Research and Development Engineers have co-authored an article for the Royal Society of Chemistry’s journal Chemical Communications. Titled “Innate glycosidic activity in metallic implants for localized synthesis of antibacterial drugs”, the article describes that iron-containing metallic implants are shown to mediate hydrolysis of glycosidic linkages. This behavior can be leveraged using glucuronide prodrugs for broad-spectrum fluoroquinolone antibacterial agents, to perform localized synthesis of antimicrobials which affords a significant zone of inhibition of bacterial growth around the metallic material. Published: January 9th, 2019
Aging and Shapeset Performance of a Radiopaque Super-Elastic Beta Titanium Alloy for Vascular and Orthopedic Applications Beta titanium alloys can be used in place of Nitinol as a nickel-free alternative in certain medical device allergy-sensitive applications, particularly in wear environments where particles of base metal can permeate tissue. Fort Wayne Metals began this work to provide improved care in such devices where Nitinol’s superelastic properties are desired but the chemistry is contraindicated. Published: August 1st, 2018
Progress in Nickel-free Shape Memory Alloys (SMA) Commercially available nanocrystalline Nitinol wire is capable of well over 8% total recoverable strain [1], whereas conventional beta titanium alloys including the venerable beta III systems and gum metal variants max out at about 2-3% total recoverable strain in uniaxial tension [1-3]. Thus, while useful, conventional beta alloys cannot directly “stand-in” for Nitinol in medical device design. Published: April 1st, 2018
Absorbable Multifilament Composites for Tailored Degradation Wire cables are increasingly used in surgical procedures to provide mechanical fixation in applications like sternotomy repair and femoral cerclage. Current materials, including 316LVM, L605 and Titanium alloys, are stable in the body and are typically left behind indefinitely after healing. These implants deliver critical acute care and concurrently can lead to long-term complications such as bone stress shielding and imaging artifacts in later therapy. An emerging and more ideal solution may make use of implants which dissolve harmlessly and even beneficially after they are no longer needed. Recent efforts to develop these absorbable metals (Mg, Fe, or Zn) for medical implants have already resulted in two devices with promising outcomes and CE mark approval. Published: January 1st, 2018
Medical Experience in Nitinol Translating Towards More Effective Flight via Morphing Aerostructures The Amplatzer™ self-centering septal occluder revolutionized minimally invasive closure of atrial septal defects (ASDs) in children in the late 1990’s, and has served the role well from that time on. Since the 1990s, Nitinol shape memory alloys (SMAs) have enabled high performance and less invasive treatment of aortic aneurysms, biliary ducts and cerebrovascular aneurysms. All such devices have relied on the remarkable combination of shape memory, superelasticity, corrosion and fatigue durability found in well-processed Nitinol wires and tubes. Published: November 1st, 2017
Ultra-fine Shape Memory Alloy Yarn for Textiles Shape memory alloy (SMA) wires, such as nitinol, with diameters less than 8µm (~.0003”) can be produced by the accumulative drawing/rolling and bonding technique, which has been used to make other microscale metallics [1-2]. Further, Nitinol wire or fiber forms have already been explored for use in complex textile production for advanced function. In this working example, as shown in Figure 1, over 2,000 NiTi wires with a diameter of 2.5 µm (approx. 0.0001 in) were produced by drawing inside a specially tuned and sacrificial, deformable matrix. Published: May 1st, 2017
Resoloy®: A Magnesium Alloy for Absorbable Devices With the recent approval of two magnesium-based implants in Europe, we may be at the beginning of a paradigm shift in medical intervention. In the near future, devices whose structural support is only needed temporarily, such as stents, staples, and screws, may be predominantly made of absorbable metals which dissolve harmlessly and even beneficially over time. Of the three nutrient metal classes (Mg, Fe, Zn), magnesium has, of late, received the most attention. Published: March 1st, 2017
Enhanced Superelastic Temperature Range in Nitinol At Fort Wayne Metals, we are applying our knowledge of Nitinol alloys and processing to decrease the stress-temperature sensitivity of Nitinol and increase the temperature range where superelasticity is possible. The superelastic (SE) properties of Nitinol are generally used in moderate temperature environments. Room temperature and body temperature are the most common. Published: January 1st, 2017
Accelerated High Stress Testing of Low Temperature NiTi Actuator Wire Fort Wayne Metals is engaged in alloy design, process development, and thermomechanical conditioning and test development of low through high temperature nitinol and NiTi ternary alloys for actuator applications. Custom product forms range from ultrafine filament (e.g. 50 µm) through larger wire (e.g. 2-5 mm), cables, strip and other custom product forms. The present work on low temperature actuation using superelastic grade NiTi is adapted from a talk given by the authors at SMST 2015. Published: November 1st, 2016
NiTiNb: a Stiffer and Stronger Alloy System with Many Potentials Unique microstructures and properties of a ternary Ni46.7Ti42.8Nb10.5 alloy reported in one of our recent studies shows great potential of this alloy system in applications that require high stiffness and large mechanical energy dissipation. Published: September 1st, 2016
It Can Groove, but Does it Jive? In August of 2015 progress towards making wire with microgrooves in the guidewire size range was summarized in A New Take on Wire Geometry – Functional Grooves. Now the focus has shifted to comparing the mechanical performance to that of solid round wire. Published: July 1st, 2016
Shape Setting of High Performance Beta Titanium SMA In our July 2015 installment, we discussed Fort Wayne Metals’ recent development of a beta titanium, nickel-free superelastic alloy. At the time, as shown in Figure 1 below, we were able to design excellent shape setting response in linear wire segments, e.g. for applications such as kink-resistant guidewire and stylets. Straight shapeset geometries were achieved through conventional stress-annealing of a suspended wire segment as well as continuous reel-to-reel wire lengths. Published: May 1st, 2016
Galvanically Active Wires for Enhanced Absorbable Device Performance Medical device design with absorbable metals has the potential to revolutionize patient care by providing effective short-term therapy and then harmlessly dissolving away. One of the primary hurdles to overcome is that of premature material fracture which could potentially lead to improper device function. One potential avenue to solve this problem is to harness and use a natural property of metals to our advantage, namely galvanic activity. Published: March 1st, 2016
Thin Wall SMA Composites: Where Plating Will Not Apply You may know that Fort Wayne Metals has been in the business of providing effective DFT® composite wire solutions for more than 30 years into industries such as cardiac pacing and neurovascular stenting. DFT wires are commonly ordered with a specific area fraction (%) of another metal, like silver for conductivity (e.g. 35N LT-DFT-28%Ag), or platinum for x-ray-opacity (e.g. NiTi-DFT-10%Pt) – these DFT wires with less than 50% area core fractions are known as thick wall composites. Published: January 1st, 2016
Drawing Magnesium’s Strengths: Absorbables and Beyond Magnesium is known mainly for its light weight, but in recent years it has received considerable attention for a much different reason: the ability to be absorbed by the human body. Being a necessary nutrient, the body has natural ways of breaking down metallic magnesium over time. This means that in many medical devices, the inert stainless steel or titanium currently used could be replaced by magnesium. Published: October 1st, 2015
A New Take on Wire Geometry – Functional Grooves Recent processing advancements have enabled Fort Wayne Metals to form fine U-shaped features into continuous lengths of 0.010” to 0.020” wire in most of our common alloys. We are still in the R&D phase, but several combinations of groove width, depth, and diameter are possible for the same overall wire diameter. Published: August 1st, 2015
A Fresh Take on Composite Wire Design Fort Wayne Metals is a designer’s toolbox, for high performance wire composites. You may know that Fort Wayne Metals has been in the business of providing effective DFT® composite wire solutions for more than 30 years. These solutions end up in devices that require a combination of properties not possible in mono-metals, like high fatigue with electrical conductivity (35N LT-DFT-Ag) or superelasticity with high relative x-ray-opacity (NiTi-DFT-Pt). You may not know that there are many metallic and even non-metallic composite wire designs that have been conceived and successfully executed at a FWM. Published: June 1st, 2015
High Performance Beta Titanium Alloys While Nitinol is becoming more and more popular in the world of medical devices due to its superelastic and shape memory properties, its nickel content is cause for concern with some applications. The Fort Wayne Metals R & D team has therefore begun investigating nickel-free alternatives. Published: July 1st, 2015
Previous updates
Iron-molybdenum composite wires for thin vascular or cerebrovascular devices A new concept from Fort Wayne Metals R&D leverages our knowledge of absorbable metal alloy systems, our experience with producing DFT® wire composites, and our unique patent portfolio. We have produced several composite wires with FeMnN alloy shells and one or more Mo filaments embedded within. Published: February 6th, 2023
Superelastic conductor material with enhanced fatigue durability for implantable lead service A new patent-pending technology to enhance the fatigue life of biostimulation leads used in devices like pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators, deep brain stimulators, and spinal cord and peripheral nerve stimulators is under development in Fort Wayne Metals R&D. Published: August 22nd, 2022
Composite wire with enhanced radiopacity, elasticity, and electrochemical behavior A new patent-pending technology to enhance the radiopacity (x-ray visibility) of wires is under development in Fort Wayne Metals R&D. Building upon our DFT® wire platform, this technique replaces the typically metallic core material with a radiopaque powder. Published: April 1st, 2021
Super-Elastic Alloys with Gigapascal Plateau Strengths Fort Wayne Metals has developed a group of NiTi based super-elastic (SE) alloys that have upper plateau strengths above 1.0 GPa (1000-1500 MPa) and lower plateau strengths above 600 MPa. Published: March 4th, 2021
Stress Corrosion Testing of Mg Wire The R&D team at Fort Wayne Metals regularly participates in many of the leading academic conferences in the fields we work in. Doing so allows us to share our recent advances, stay up to date on the latest cutting-edge work, and most importantly, connect with the students, professors, engineers, and clinicians whose combined efforts ultimately turn scientific advances into concrete benefits to society. Published: December 10th, 2020
Nickel-free beta-titanium Alloy with Large and Stable Room Temperature Superelasticity Fort Wayne Metals has developed a Ni-free ß-Ti alloy showing large and stable superelastic properties at room temperatures. Mechanical properties and fatigue performance of this alloy are within the neighborhood of superelastic NiTi alloys. Published: November 23rd, 2020
Superlative Strength Wire and Cable for Force Transmission Several Ultra-High-Strength (UHS) wires are produced that may be well suited to high strength wire, strands, cables and ropes used in robotics force transmission and other high-performance mono- and multifilament wire applications where high strength, low stretch and fatigue durability are important. Published: August 7th, 2020
A CoNiCr-Nitinol Composite Wire for Guidewire Type Applications Fort Wayne Metals has developed a composite wire technology with integrated proximal-to-tip guidewire performance in mind. One critical area in medical device practice is in vascular access guidewires. Many workhorse guidewires, 0.3302 mm to 0.3556 mm [0.013 in to 0.014 in], use a stiff material body (often stainless steel or CoNiCr) for control and a superelastic Nitinol tip for flexible navigation. The combination of properties for these hybrid wires is often used for effective navigation to areas of the heart, brain, and vessels of appendages. Published: February 17th, 2020
What will you make with grooved wire? In today's update, we've proposed a few applications where grooved wire could enable additional functionality in your next generation of devices. Published: May 23rd, 2019
Fort Wayne Metals Co-authors Article Posted for Royal Society of Chemistry Fort Wayne Metals Research and Development Engineers have co-authored an article for the Royal Society of Chemistry’s journal Chemical Communications. Titled “Innate glycosidic activity in metallic implants for localized synthesis of antibacterial drugs”, the article describes that iron-containing metallic implants are shown to mediate hydrolysis of glycosidic linkages. This behavior can be leveraged using glucuronide prodrugs for broad-spectrum fluoroquinolone antibacterial agents, to perform localized synthesis of antimicrobials which affords a significant zone of inhibition of bacterial growth around the metallic material. Published: January 9th, 2019
Aging and Shapeset Performance of a Radiopaque Super-Elastic Beta Titanium Alloy for Vascular and Orthopedic Applications Beta titanium alloys can be used in place of Nitinol as a nickel-free alternative in certain medical device allergy-sensitive applications, particularly in wear environments where particles of base metal can permeate tissue. Fort Wayne Metals began this work to provide improved care in such devices where Nitinol’s superelastic properties are desired but the chemistry is contraindicated. Published: August 1st, 2018
Progress in Nickel-free Shape Memory Alloys (SMA) Commercially available nanocrystalline Nitinol wire is capable of well over 8% total recoverable strain [1], whereas conventional beta titanium alloys including the venerable beta III systems and gum metal variants max out at about 2-3% total recoverable strain in uniaxial tension [1-3]. Thus, while useful, conventional beta alloys cannot directly “stand-in” for Nitinol in medical device design. Published: April 1st, 2018
Absorbable Multifilament Composites for Tailored Degradation Wire cables are increasingly used in surgical procedures to provide mechanical fixation in applications like sternotomy repair and femoral cerclage. Current materials, including 316LVM, L605 and Titanium alloys, are stable in the body and are typically left behind indefinitely after healing. These implants deliver critical acute care and concurrently can lead to long-term complications such as bone stress shielding and imaging artifacts in later therapy. An emerging and more ideal solution may make use of implants which dissolve harmlessly and even beneficially after they are no longer needed. Recent efforts to develop these absorbable metals (Mg, Fe, or Zn) for medical implants have already resulted in two devices with promising outcomes and CE mark approval. Published: January 1st, 2018
Medical Experience in Nitinol Translating Towards More Effective Flight via Morphing Aerostructures The Amplatzer™ self-centering septal occluder revolutionized minimally invasive closure of atrial septal defects (ASDs) in children in the late 1990’s, and has served the role well from that time on. Since the 1990s, Nitinol shape memory alloys (SMAs) have enabled high performance and less invasive treatment of aortic aneurysms, biliary ducts and cerebrovascular aneurysms. All such devices have relied on the remarkable combination of shape memory, superelasticity, corrosion and fatigue durability found in well-processed Nitinol wires and tubes. Published: November 1st, 2017
Ultra-fine Shape Memory Alloy Yarn for Textiles Shape memory alloy (SMA) wires, such as nitinol, with diameters less than 8µm (~.0003”) can be produced by the accumulative drawing/rolling and bonding technique, which has been used to make other microscale metallics [1-2]. Further, Nitinol wire or fiber forms have already been explored for use in complex textile production for advanced function. In this working example, as shown in Figure 1, over 2,000 NiTi wires with a diameter of 2.5 µm (approx. 0.0001 in) were produced by drawing inside a specially tuned and sacrificial, deformable matrix. Published: May 1st, 2017
Resoloy®: A Magnesium Alloy for Absorbable Devices With the recent approval of two magnesium-based implants in Europe, we may be at the beginning of a paradigm shift in medical intervention. In the near future, devices whose structural support is only needed temporarily, such as stents, staples, and screws, may be predominantly made of absorbable metals which dissolve harmlessly and even beneficially over time. Of the three nutrient metal classes (Mg, Fe, Zn), magnesium has, of late, received the most attention. Published: March 1st, 2017
Enhanced Superelastic Temperature Range in Nitinol At Fort Wayne Metals, we are applying our knowledge of Nitinol alloys and processing to decrease the stress-temperature sensitivity of Nitinol and increase the temperature range where superelasticity is possible. The superelastic (SE) properties of Nitinol are generally used in moderate temperature environments. Room temperature and body temperature are the most common. Published: January 1st, 2017
Accelerated High Stress Testing of Low Temperature NiTi Actuator Wire Fort Wayne Metals is engaged in alloy design, process development, and thermomechanical conditioning and test development of low through high temperature nitinol and NiTi ternary alloys for actuator applications. Custom product forms range from ultrafine filament (e.g. 50 µm) through larger wire (e.g. 2-5 mm), cables, strip and other custom product forms. The present work on low temperature actuation using superelastic grade NiTi is adapted from a talk given by the authors at SMST 2015. Published: November 1st, 2016
NiTiNb: a Stiffer and Stronger Alloy System with Many Potentials Unique microstructures and properties of a ternary Ni46.7Ti42.8Nb10.5 alloy reported in one of our recent studies shows great potential of this alloy system in applications that require high stiffness and large mechanical energy dissipation. Published: September 1st, 2016
It Can Groove, but Does it Jive? In August of 2015 progress towards making wire with microgrooves in the guidewire size range was summarized in A New Take on Wire Geometry – Functional Grooves. Now the focus has shifted to comparing the mechanical performance to that of solid round wire. Published: July 1st, 2016
Shape Setting of High Performance Beta Titanium SMA In our July 2015 installment, we discussed Fort Wayne Metals’ recent development of a beta titanium, nickel-free superelastic alloy. At the time, as shown in Figure 1 below, we were able to design excellent shape setting response in linear wire segments, e.g. for applications such as kink-resistant guidewire and stylets. Straight shapeset geometries were achieved through conventional stress-annealing of a suspended wire segment as well as continuous reel-to-reel wire lengths. Published: May 1st, 2016
Galvanically Active Wires for Enhanced Absorbable Device Performance Medical device design with absorbable metals has the potential to revolutionize patient care by providing effective short-term therapy and then harmlessly dissolving away. One of the primary hurdles to overcome is that of premature material fracture which could potentially lead to improper device function. One potential avenue to solve this problem is to harness and use a natural property of metals to our advantage, namely galvanic activity. Published: March 1st, 2016
Thin Wall SMA Composites: Where Plating Will Not Apply You may know that Fort Wayne Metals has been in the business of providing effective DFT® composite wire solutions for more than 30 years into industries such as cardiac pacing and neurovascular stenting. DFT wires are commonly ordered with a specific area fraction (%) of another metal, like silver for conductivity (e.g. 35N LT-DFT-28%Ag), or platinum for x-ray-opacity (e.g. NiTi-DFT-10%Pt) – these DFT wires with less than 50% area core fractions are known as thick wall composites. Published: January 1st, 2016
Drawing Magnesium’s Strengths: Absorbables and Beyond Magnesium is known mainly for its light weight, but in recent years it has received considerable attention for a much different reason: the ability to be absorbed by the human body. Being a necessary nutrient, the body has natural ways of breaking down metallic magnesium over time. This means that in many medical devices, the inert stainless steel or titanium currently used could be replaced by magnesium. Published: October 1st, 2015
A New Take on Wire Geometry – Functional Grooves Recent processing advancements have enabled Fort Wayne Metals to form fine U-shaped features into continuous lengths of 0.010” to 0.020” wire in most of our common alloys. We are still in the R&D phase, but several combinations of groove width, depth, and diameter are possible for the same overall wire diameter. Published: August 1st, 2015
A Fresh Take on Composite Wire Design Fort Wayne Metals is a designer’s toolbox, for high performance wire composites. You may know that Fort Wayne Metals has been in the business of providing effective DFT® composite wire solutions for more than 30 years. These solutions end up in devices that require a combination of properties not possible in mono-metals, like high fatigue with electrical conductivity (35N LT-DFT-Ag) or superelasticity with high relative x-ray-opacity (NiTi-DFT-Pt). You may not know that there are many metallic and even non-metallic composite wire designs that have been conceived and successfully executed at a FWM. Published: June 1st, 2015
High Performance Beta Titanium Alloys While Nitinol is becoming more and more popular in the world of medical devices due to its superelastic and shape memory properties, its nickel content is cause for concern with some applications. The Fort Wayne Metals R & D team has therefore begun investigating nickel-free alternatives. Published: July 1st, 2015