Development and fatigue experiments of a novel nonlinear medical drilling device containing a flexible NiTi shaft

Richter, J.; Wagner, M.; Grönemeyer, D.; Eggeler, G.

Development and fatigue experiments of a novel nonlinear medical drilling device containing a flexible NiTi shaft (bibtex)

by J. Richter, M. Wagner, D. Grönemeyer, G. Eggeler

Abstract:

In today's high technology medicine many microtherapeutical therapies like the percutanial placement of radioactive seeds in the centre of a vertebral body tumour demand for a non-linear drilling system to reach the place of interest. Unfortunately, only linear drillings can be performed so far. In this paper, we report on the development and experimental studies for the design of a new medical, non-linear drilling device based on the utilization of a flexible NiTi shaft that performs curved drillings into bone tissue through a working channel with an outer diameter of less than 2 mm. We explain the general working principle of the device, and we present data on bending rotation fatigue experiments under various cyclic loads to estimate the fatigue life of the flexible NiTi shaft. In addition, we discuss a first approach on the realization of a drill-head by LASER-assisted melting.

Reference:

Richter, J., Wagner, M., Grönemeyer, D., Eggeler, G.: Development and fatigue experiments of a novel nonlinear medical drilling device containing a flexible NiTi shaft, Proc. of SMST 2004, 131-136.

Bibtex Entry:

@InProceedings{Richter,
  Title                    = {{Development and fatigue experiments of a novel nonlinear medical drilling device containing a flexible {NiTi} shaft}},
  Author                   = {Richter, J. and Wagner, M. and Gr\"{o}nemeyer, D. and Eggeler, G.},
  Booktitle                = {Proc. of SMST 2004},
  Year                     = {2004},
  Pages                    = {131--136},

  Abstract                 = {In today's high technology medicine many microtherapeutical therapies like the percutanial placement of radioactive seeds in the centre of a vertebral body tumour demand for a non-linear drilling system to reach the place of interest. Unfortunately, only linear drillings can be performed so far. In this paper, we report on the development and experimental studies for the design of a new medical, non-linear drilling device based on the utilization of a flexible NiTi shaft that performs curved drillings into bone tissue through a working channel with an outer diameter of less than 2 mm. We explain the general working principle of the device, and we present data on bending rotation fatigue experiments under various cyclic loads to estimate the fatigue life of the flexible NiTi shaft. In addition, we discuss a first approach on the realization of a drill-head by LASER-assisted melting.}
}