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One of the major challenges in developing appropriate vascular substitutes is to produce a graft that adapts to the biological and mechanical conditions at the application or implantation site. One approach is the use of tissue engineered electrospun grafts pre-seeded with autologous cells. However, bending stresses during  in vivo  applications could lead to kinking of the graft which may result in life-threatening stenosis. The aim of this study was to develop an electrospun vascular graft consisting of biodegradable polymers which can reduce or prevent kinking, due to their higher flexibility. In order to improve the bendability of the grafts, various electrospinning collectors were designed using six different patterns. Subsequently, the grafts were examined for scaffold morphology, mechanical strength and bendability. Scaffolds spun on a collector structured with a v-shaped thread (flank angle of 120°) showed a homogenous and reproducible fiber deposition as compared to the unstructured reference sample. The results of the tensile tests were comparable to the unstructured reference sample, supporting the first observation. Studies on bendability were performed using a custom made flow-bending test setup. It was shown that the flow through the v-shaped grafts was reduced to less than 45 % of the reference value even after bending the graft to an angle of 140°. In contrast, the flow through an unstructured graft was reduced to more than 50 % after bending to an angle of 55°. The presented data demonstrate the need for optimizing the bendability of the commonly used electrospun vascular grafts. Using of macroscopic v-shaped collectors is a promising solution to overcome the issue of graft kinking.

current directions in biomedical engineering

Electrospun vascular grafts with anti-kinking properties: Development of a method to optimize the bendability of electrospun vascular grafts and of a standardized flow-bending test method