Shape memory materials (SMMs) are featured by the ability to recover their original shape from a significant and seemingly plastic deformation upon a particular stimulus is applied 1. This is known as ...

Shape-memory metals, which can revert from one shape to a different one simply by being warmed or otherwise triggered, have been useful in a variety of applications, as actuators that can control the ...

The technique of keyhole surgery minimises scarring, speeds healing and reduces the risk of infection. However, it is extremely difficult to carry out delicate surgical procedures accurately in a ...

Researcher Ken Gall uses this thermomechanical test frame to determine the maximum possible shape change of his team's shape-memory polymer. Shape-memory alloys and polymers are the contortionists of ...

The use of shape memory alloys to manufacture implantable medical devices represents a high-growth portion of the medical materials market today. The ability of these specialized alloys to expand or ...

Researchers have discovered a way to introduce a shape memory effect in bismuth ferrite that is larger than any observed in a metal. This discovery opens the door to applications in a wide range of ...

Laser powder bed fusion, a 3D-printing technique, offers potential in the manufacturing industry, particularly when fabricating nickel-titanium shape memory alloys with complex geometries. Although ...

Imagine a world of shape-shifters. A surgeon inserts a small lump of plastic into an anesthetized patient and, like magic, it expands into a life-saving mesh tube that keeps a formerly clogged artery ...