Exploring the elastocaloric effect of Shape Memory Alloys for innovative biomedical devices: a review.

This article explores the potential applications of elastocaloric materials, specifically shape memory alloys (SMAs), in the medical and biomedical industry. It discusses the principles and mechanisms of the elastocaloric effect in SMAs and highlights the performance indices and various SMA families. The article reviews recent developments in elastocaloric cooling devices and identifies several promising areas for biomedical applications. It emphasizes the importance of durability and fatigue resistance for biomedical devices and discusses the challenges and opportunities in integrating elastocaloric elements into biomedical devices. The article concludes by encouraging further research and development in this field to support the future development of biomedical solid-state refrigeration and heating technologies. [Extracted from the article]