Nickel-titanium memory alloy creates new spacesuits

To keep astronauts alive in space, a traditional space suit fills the air like a balloon, providing about a third of the atmosphere. New spacesuits made with nickel-titanium memory controls can do this, but they can apply pressure directly on the skin to prevent air from entering.

Nitinol is a special shape memory alloy, which can automatically recover its plastic deformation at a certain temperature. Its expansion rate is more than 20%, its fatigue life is 1 * 10, and its damping characteristic is 10 times that of ordinary spring. Its corrosion resistance is superior to the best current medical stainless steel, so it can meet a variety of requirements. It is an excellent functional material for engineering and medical applications.

One department successfully completed the first internal fixation of niti memory alloy sternum fracture, and this technique was first applied in our hospital. The specific method is to expose the upper and lower costal space of the sternum fracture, reduce the sternum, clean the mediastinal hematoma, and place mediastinal drainage tube if necessary.