In recent years, medicine and the medical
industry have focused on the concept of less
invasive surgical procedures (29). Following
this tendency, shape memory surgical
instruments have been created and are becoming
noticeable. Among the advantages
of these tools, one can emphasize their flexibility
as well as their possibility to recover
their former shape when heated.
The SMA basket is used to remove kidney,
bladder and bile duct stones (20). This
basket is inserted into the human body in the
same way as the Simon filter. Figure 12
presents a sequence of pictures related to the
basket opening as it is heated.
The intra-aortic balloon pump (Figure
13) is used to unblock blood vessels during
angioplasty. The device has an SMA tube
whose diameter is reduced compared to polymer
materials due to its pseudoelastic effect.
Moreover, it also allows greater flexibility
and torsion resistance when compared to the
same tube made of stainless steel (16).
Laparoscopy is another procedure where
SMA have been employed. Figure 14 shows
some surgical tools where the actions of
grippers, scissors, tongs and other mechanisms
are performed by SMA. These devices
allow smooth movements tending to mimic
the continuous movement of muscles. Moreover,
these devices facilitate access to intricate
regions