抄録
In order to develop a brain spatula or a brain retractor made of a shape memory alloy (SMA), the bending fatigue characteristics of the brain spatula of TiNi SMA made by the precision casting were discussed. The results obtained can be summarized as follows. (1) At the room temperature, the fatigue life in pulsating-plane bending is longer than that in alternating-plane bending. (2) The fatigue life with heating and cooling is longer than that at room temperature under constant frequency when bending strain is larger than 2 %. (3) The above mentioned characteristics of the SMA-brain spatula obtained in this study can be substantially applied to the development not only for the brain spatula but also for other retractors and instruments used in other surgery operations.
