Surgical tools require high strength, low blood contamination and the ability to achieve erosive disinfection procedures. The design flexibility of MIM technology can meet the application of most surgical tools, and it also has technological advantages. It can manufacture all kinds of metal products at low cost. It is gradually replacing the traditional production technology as the main manufacturing method.

Shandong No2 Machinery Company has developed a stainless steel claw or scissor using MIM technology. It is made of 17-4PH stainless steel with a density greater than 7.5g/cm3. It can be used to grasp objects in human body during operation and has the function of tweezers. The design is very complex and requires high production precission.

After moulding with MIM technology and sintering, it can reach a high tolerance level. It does not need a lot of follow-up processing technology to avoid destroying the linear and geometrical shape of the claw.

 It is difficult to produce this kind of stainless steel claw with complex shape by casting or machining. It requires a long production cycle and high cost. Using MIM technology to produce this kind of claw can save 60% of the cost.

One-off surgical tools need to develop a low-cost batch production process. No2 Machinery Company uses MIM technology to produce a shaft , which can be used in a new type of disposable surgical instruments. The cost is only 1/4-1/5 of that processed by Swiss CNC machine tools, the density is 7.5 g/cm3, the ultimate tensile strength is 1190 MPa, and the yield strength is 1090 MPa. The elongation is 6.0% and the maximum hardness is 33 HRC.

The manufacturing process of this product is as follows: firstly, two 178mm long axle parts are formed by MIM technology, then two parts are welded by laser, followed by subsequent machining and heat treatment. In order to achieve better tolerance, shot peening and passivation are also needed.