Patent ID: 7223329
Filing Date: 2007-05-29
Classification: A61B,A61M,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A method of making an active slender tube comprising the steps of: preparing an actuator made from a shape memory alloy (SMA) and forming at least a portion of a tubular body; disposing outside of said SMA made actuator an elastically deformable outer skeleton coaxially therewith; and fastening together said SMA made actuator and said outer skeleton, and, characterized in that wherein said step of disposing includes steps of forming non-insulated portions on said SMA made actuator and said outer skeleton in their corresponding areas and disposing a lead wire adjacent to said non-insulated portions, and said step of fastening includes a step of passing an electric current through said lead wire, said SMA made actuator and said outer skeleton in an electroplating liquid to deposit a metal on said lead wire and said non-insulated portions from said liquid and thereby to electrically join said SMA made actuator and said outer skeleton together at said corresponding areas.