Key benefits

Acquandas uses its expertise and know-how in microsystems technology, especially in thin film deposition, lithography and chemical etching to manufacture medical device components from Nitinol and other materials. While we don't see our technology in competition with conventional micromaching technologies, such as e.g. laser technology, we believe that the special features of our technology will open up new ways of designing miniaturized medical devices. The key benefits of this technology are:

1. Miniaturization:

We are able to produce structures with widths down to 5 μm and thicknesses up to 80 μm.


Figure 1 - Examples of design options with Nitinol.





2. Excellent Biocompatibility:

Human mesenchymal stem cells (HMSC) cultivated on Acquandas TiNi thin films show no sign of cell activation.


Figure 2 - Light micrographs of Titanium (Ti) and Nickel Titanium (NiTi) thin films produced by magnetron sputtering (upper row) and corresponding fluorescence micrographs of HMSC at the film surface. HMSC were incubated on the different samples for 7 days and stained with CalceinAM (green = living cells) and propidiumiodine (red = dead cells; scale bar = 300 μm).


Related publication: The biocompatibility and mechanical properties of cylindrical NiTi thin films produced by magnetron sputtering- T. Habijan, R.L. De Miranda , C. Zamponi , E. Quandt , C. Greulich , T.A. Schildhauer , M. Köller Materials Science and Engineering C 32 (2012) 2523-2528.






3. Superior mechanical properties:

Size and distribution of non-metallic inclusions affect the final mechanical properties of Nitinol. The manufacturing process developed by Acquandas allows the fabrication of Nitinol materials nearly free from inclusions (Figure 3), thus improving greatly its mechanical properties.


Figure 3 - Maximum inclusion volume and inclusion size of conventional material in comparison to Nitinol fabricated by Acquandas.


Related publication: Lima de Miranda, R., Zamponi, C. and Quandt, E. (2012), Micropatterned Freestanding Superelastic TiNi Films. Adv. Eng. Mater. doi: 10.1002/adem.201200197






4. Complex Design Options:

Acquandas' powerful process enlarges design possibilities.


Figure 4 - Examples of complex designs that have been realized by Acquandas.





5. Outstanding edge resolution


Figure 5 - Examples displaying the edge resolution of components fabricated by Acquandas.