Patent ID: 8500787

Claim:
A medical device, comprising: an implantable body comprising a superelastic NiTi alloy; a radiopaque marker, said radiopaque marker comprising a binary alloy of titanium and one binary element selected from platinum, palladium, rhodium, and gold, the titanium present in an amount ranging from 45 to 55 atomic percent and the balance of the binary alloy comprising said binary element, wherein the binary alloy is processed to exhibit a yield stress of about 200 ksi to about 250 ksi; and an autogenous weld joining the radiopaque marker and the implantable body together, wherein the implantable body, the radiopaque marker, and the autogenous weld exhibit a crystalline lattice that is substantially the same, allowing Ni of the Ni—Ti alloy and the binary element of the radiopaque marker to substitute for one another in one or more of the autogenous weld, in the implantable body adjacent to the autogenous weld, and in the radiopaque marker, and wherein the implantable body, the radiopaque marker, and the autogenous weld are substantially free of brittle intermetallic compounds such that the Ni—Ti superelastic alloy, the radiopaque marker, and the autogenous weld each maintain similar ductility.