Fabrication and Characterization of Electrospun Vascular Grafts from Polymer Blends*

Mechanical mismatch between the native blood vessels and the implanted graft is the primary reason for the implant failure. In this study, we use the process of electrospinning for the fabrication of the synthetic vascular graft using blend polymers like PET, PU, PHH and PDO. Incorporation of elastomer PU into widely used vascular graft material PET (commercially known as Dacron) in  50/50 ratio enhanced the breaking strain of PET graft by 60%, which is helpful in the pulsating environment of the grafts inside the body. The Young's modulus of the graft is found to be 2.1 MPa at 10 percent elongation. SEM images shows the mesh structure in the nanoscale which is suitable for mimicking the ECM of the native blood vessels.