A wire manufacturer has found a way to make small-diameter cable from stranded wire with an open center or working channel. Fort Wayne Metals, Ft. Wayne Ind, (fwmetals.com) says its helical hollow strand (HHS) cable can be formed of 6 to 12 filars or wires in one or two layers. IDs range from 0.007 to 0.045 in., and ODs from 0.014 to 0.85 in.

The firm says the cable can be made to resist kinks. In fact, the company says its cables are well defined by equations which let its engineers quickly design many cable variations in a short period. For instance, flexibility can be influenced by wire size, filar count, and others variables. Cables can be tailored to requirements for tension, compression, torque, and pitch direction.

Materials are normally spring tempered. Nitinol HHS is set in its super-elastic condition. Applications include over the wire devices, endovascular devices, and minimally invasive tools.