Abstract
A novel method of fabricating superelastic Ti-Ni microtubes was developed. Ti-Ni was sputter-deposited on a Cu-wire with a 54μm diameter. After deposition the Cu-wire was removed by etching to produce a tube hole. The microtubes exhibited shape memory behavior after heat-treatment at 873K for 3.6ks. A high-strength Ti-Ni microtube that exhibits superelasticity at room temperature was obtained. The fabricated superelastic Ti-Ni microtube is attractive for biomedical applications, such as micro-stents, micro-needles and micro-catheters.
