Coatings designed specifically for surgical instruments can significantly affect the performance, aesthetics, ease of use, and wear-resistance of those devices.
 
This workshop will provide an overview and comparison of value-added metal finishing for medical products.  Several types of processes will be analyzed for efficacy in surgical situations, including low-friction chromium, titanium anodizing, aluminum anodizing, electro-polishing, passivation, and various vapor deposition type coatings.  We will explore the advantages and disadvantages of each process and review the best applications for them. 
 
Also in this presentation, we will look at the effects of different surface treatments on disposable cutters and bone drills.  We will review the results of an experiment that will compare the heat build up and wear of the different surface treatments in a bone-drilling context.  We will analyze the results to see which of the processes performed the best, and why.