Tungsten Carbide in Medical Equipment

Tungsten carbide’s incredible properties are born form marrying carbon and tungsten together. The resulting alloy is dense, resistant to scratching, pitting, and rusting, and is nearly as hard as diamond. In fact, carbide is three times harder than even stainless steel and can be sterilized just as easily. This makes it naturally fitting to be used in the medical industry for making all sorts of tools.

Because tungsten carbide is so dense, it is noticeably heavier than other metals that are commonly used in the healthcare industry such as steel and titanium. Fortunately, carbide can easily be grafted to other metals through a micro bonding process. This means that hospitals, doctor’s offices, and other healthcare clinics can buy instruments that are made mostly of steel and titanium, but are tipped with carbide and thus provide a lightweight grip with enhanced performance on the working end of the instrument.