The use of powerful synchrotron radiation sources, e.g., Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory and The Advanced Light Source, combined with the recent ability to control those beams to < 1mm² presents researchers with the unique ability to study highly localized atomistic behavior.  Nitinol, which derives its unique and advantageous mechanical properties from controlled atomic motion in response to applied mechanical loads or temperature changes, is an ideal material for study using these techniques.  Combined with miniaturized, portable versions of mechanical loading devices, we can precisely study the atomistic response, e.g., volume change, stress, strain, and phase transformation, resulting from applied mechanical loads.  This technique allows us to conducted experiments on relevant size scales and in product forms and stress conditions that simulate those biomedical devices.   This paper details: i) the importance for a high-intensity X-ray sources, ii) the value of extremely small beam sizes, and iii) the development of two different miniature test rigs; one that can apply tension and/or torsion to tubular Nitinol, and another that applies tensile loads via pin or compression grips with a stepper motor that can apply displacement rates down to 1 mm/s.  The combination of the two test techniques allows us to study phenomenon such as Luders band-like deformation, the evolution of load-controlled transformations, localized strains at material flaws, and residual stresses and strain-stabilized martensite in fracture surfaces.