ISSN: 1945-7553
Page Count: 8

Mechanical Testing of Stainless Steel Bone Staples

Liberace, R
Staff Engineer, Winchester Engineering & Analytical Center (WEAC), Food & Drug Administration, Winchester,MA

Ladin, Z
Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, College of Engineering, Boston,MA

Abstract

Bending characteristics of stainless steel bone staples were examined to determine their possible inclusion in future standards. These characteristics included a measure of the initial slope of the bending curve as the staples were bent in a four-point bending load apparatus and a factor which accounts for the decrease in staple stiffness due to the bends in the staple. Both factors were measured and showed variations as high as 20% when similar size staples from different manufacturers were compared. Material properties such as hardness and tensile strength were also measured, and the resulting values were within 5% of each other for similar size staples. These results suggest that the staples were made from wire with very similar mechanical properties and that the observed variations are probably due to differences in the manufacturing process.

Keywords:
bone staples, staples, surgical implants, orthopedic implants

Paper ID: JTE11715J
DOI: 10.1520/JTE11715J
ASTM International is a member of CrossRef.