NDC recently added nickel ion release and hydrogen testing to its extensive portfolio of testing services specifically for Nitinol implants. NDC has unique expertise running and reporting upon standardized tests routinely required by regulatory bodies worldwide. By understanding Nitinol’s unique fundamental properties, design constraints and the processes used in manufacturing, NDC’s testing services team is able to not only guide customers towards appropriate testing techniques but also able to provide deep insights and recommendations when testing failures occur.
NDC’s current portfolio of Nitinol testing services includes:
- Nickel ion release testing
- Hydrogen testing
- Potentiodynamic corrosion testing
- Galvanic corrosion testing
- Tensile testing
- Transformation temperature testing (DSC, BFR, and non-contact shape recovery)
- Fatigue testing and analysis (pulsatile, tensile, rotating bending, and “laser-cut diamond”)
- Radial force and crush testing
- Scanning Electron Microscopy, including focused ion beam milling and compositional analysis
- Metallographic analysis
Andreas Wick, Manager Technical Services notes, “We are pleased to expand our service offering to include nickel ion release testing as our goal is to be a one stop shop for our customers’ Nitinol design, testing and manufacturing needs. NDC can also perform complex failure analysis on critical Nitinol implants using SEM or other techniques. Having a failure is never an easy situation, but we work to help our customers understand what went wrong so that they can rapidly iterate their device and get back on track”.
As recognized leaders in the Nitinol field, NDC is regularly called upon by ASTM International to help define test methods for Nitinol materials and implants and was instrumental in guiding the establishment of F2004, F2082, F2129 and F2516 among other standards. NDC has also provided training, guidance and consulting to regulatory bodies in support of customer submissions in which Nitinol is a critical device element.
For questions about NDC’s Testing Services, please contact Andreas Wick andreas.wick@nitinol.com.
