Small-diameter vascular grafts composed of polyester/spandex fibers: Manufacturing techniques and property evaluations

This study aims to examine the properties of the small-diameter vascular grafts that are made by incorporating polyester (PET) yarns and spandex fibers. PET and spandex fibers are warp-knitted or weft knitted into tubular knits. These two tubular knits are combined with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) by applying a freezing-thawing method in order to create vascular grafts. The physical properties of vascular grafts are tested by performing tensile tests and a compliance test. The test results indicate that the incorporation of spandex fibers increases the deformation level along the axial direction of the warp knitted tubular knits. In addition, the vascular grafts that are made of spandex fibers have a greater compliance than that of the commercially available vascular grafts (i.e., ePTFE) and natural blood vessels. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.