Johnson Matthey's components
business manufactures parts for
devices used in surgery

The use of precious metals and metal technology in medical applications has seen rapid growth. Johnson Matthey expertise in the manufacture of precious metal products for use on components in medical device products is seen in the Johnson Matthey medical components business. This business specialises in machining, drawing, rolling and forming platinum, nitinol and specialty metals to the high tolerances demanded by modern medicine.

Platinum is used in a number of medical applications since it is inert in the body and is opaque to X-rays. This means that the positioning of a medical device can be more easily assessed.

Nitinol is an alloy of nickel and titanium which is in the unique class of materials known as shape memory alloys. This means that nitinol products may be bent and stretched but when heated to a certain temperature they will return to their original shape. Two particularly important applications are bendable surgical tools and vascular stents.

Nitinol handles on surgical tools by allow the tools to be bent precisely to the proper shape for surgery. The original shape returns upon heating during sterilization. This technology has been successfully applied for tools for heart surgery.

For vascular stents, fine NiTi shape memory wires are woven into cylindrical shapes used to reinforce blood vessels. The stent is crushed and inserted through a cannula into the proper location in the blood vessel. Upon warming, the stent returns to its trained cylindrical shape and provides reinforcement to the walls of the blood vessel.