Harnessing the Full Power of NiTiNOL in Orthopedics: Beyond Guide Wires, Staples, and Anchors

The proposed use of NiTiNOL in orthopedic devices dates back nearly 40 years to the Hughes report, Evaluation of NiTiNOL for Use as a Material in the Construction of Orthopedic Implants.  Over the past several decades NiTiNOL has found widespread and successful use in orthopedics to pass suture/tissue (kink resistant wires), to anchor soft tissue to bone (deployable suture anchors), and fix small bone fractures (sustained compression staples).  These successes have paved the way to achieve the original vision of the Hughes report; the use of NiTiNOL in large bone trauma devices.  In large bone fusion and fracture fixation, NiTiNOL provides both the capacity for sustained compression during post-operative healing and the opportunity to minimize device stiffness and mitigate stress shielding compared to rigid titanium implants.  In this talk we will broadly discuss the clinical use of NiTiNOL in orthopedics, the recent clinical success of the DynaNail^TM ankle fusion device, and the development and regulatory barriers overcome to put the DynaNail^TM to market.