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Nanoscale elemental phase separation in Nitinol NiTi alloy. Image width is 90 nm.

In medical device technology failure is not an attractive option. Orthopedic prosthetics, artificial heart valves, stents, and pacemaker electrodes are expected to function for decades, if not a lifetime. The development of microsurgical and minimally invasive procedures drives the development of ever smaller interventional tools and implanted devices. Medicine places tremendous demands on material performance that require nanoscale control of material structure. The LEAP^® microscope can uniquely provide nanostructure information to enable better and more reliable biomaterials by providing critical information such as:

• Nanoscale variations of compositional uniformity
• Ion implantation depth and uniformity
• Structure and composition of precipitates and grain boundaries
• Effects of laser machining and welding on nanostructure
• Mapping distribution of carbides and nitrides
• Determining surface oxide nanostructure
• Evaluation of phase segregation in shape memory alloys