A noble spring-clip: fatigue-resistant electrical connection for implant use.
An alternative method for electrically joining two rigid terminals within the flexible encapsulant of a prosthesis was sought after welded platinum wires suffered fatigue failure when implanted. The advantage of using spring clips is discussed and fatigue tests to compare spring-clips, made for one of two gold alloys, with welded Platinum or Pt/Ir wires are described. Some physical properties of the superior gold alloy are tabulated.
D001698:Biomedical Engineering; D004560:Electricity; D006801:Humans; D019736:Prostheses and Implants / Q000295:instrumentation*