Development of a Compliant Electrospun Polyurethane Vascular Graft Available to Purchase

Synthetic vascular grafts are an integral tool in vascular surgery. However, the consistent failure of small diameter grafts is one of the main limitations of these devices. For this reason electrospun polyurethane has been investigated for its suitability as a vascular substitute material in this present study. Aligned and random mesh electrospun polyurethane materials were produced and analysed in vitro by investigating the effect of using both materials as a substrate for the culture of human aortic smooth muscle cells. Immunofluorescence analysis showed that cells cultured on electrospun polyurethane maintained a contractile phenotype to a much greater extent than those cultured on cast polyurethane membranes. This contractile phenotype is associated with the state in which a cell would normally reside in a healthy vessel, suggesting that electrospun polyurethane may provide a suitable vascular substitute material.