Medical / Healthcare
Cryogenic treatment of medical tools, surgical knives, and scalpels improves performance, reduces wear, and increases longevity. The cryogenic processing properly adapted to the specific cutting tool’s, such as surgical scalpels and knives, can significantly impact the overall tool performance. 300 Below’s cryogenic processing technology can ensure 300-400% improvements and as a result your medical tools and equipment will regrind as half as much.
Cutting instruments and dissecting, such as scalpels, scissors, and saws are suitable to be cryogenically processed. All metals have residual stress, which occurs as a result of solidification from the liquid phase into a solid phase. The medical cutting tools aren’t an exception. These residual stresses can create weak areas that are prone to failure. Cryogenic processing can reduce these weaknesses and ensure stress relief by creating a more uniform grain structure.
What benefits for medical cutting tools may be obtained through cryogenic treatment?
- Greater durability
- Transformation of retained austenite present in heat treated steels into harder martensite steel
- Reduction of imperfections and weaknesses in the surgical steel’s grains structure
- Improved wear resistance
- Increase of the fine carbides that act as binders to support the martensite matrix, which contributes to wear and corrosion resistance
- Stress relief
- Elimination of voids and imperfections in the grain structure
- Providing more consistent sharpening and a better edge
- The edge will hold longer and the surgical knife will stay sharper
- Less cracking failures
- The propagation of stress lines
- Reduced friction coefficient
- Micro-smoothing of the surface