The Influence of Weaving Technologies on the Integral Characteristics of Synthetic Vascular Prostheses

The aim of the study is to determine physical and structural properties of woven synthetic prostheses depending on the type of the weave.

Ten vascular prostheses manufactured at the Science and Technology Park of the BNTU "Polytechnic" (Minsk, Republic of Belarus) have been analyzed. The prostheses differed in the type of weaving, duration and temperature of thermal fixation during crimping. Three samples had a single-layer structure and 7 samples had a double-layer structure. Tests for water permeability, resistance to radial bending, and porosity of the prostheses have been performed.

The single-layer woven prostheses have demonstrated a low level of water permeability: the best result was shown by sample No.1: 80 [77.1; 80.5] ml/min/cm². A strong direct correlation was revealed for these prostheses: the larger the pore diameter, the greater permeability (r=0.778; p=0.05). The single-layer woven prostheses appeared to be most resistant to radial bending, samples No.1 and 3 had no deformations at the minimum radius of the cylinder (r<4 mm), sample No.2 showed deformation on the cylinder with r=5 mm. For the single-layer prostheses, a strong negative correlation was noted (r=‒0.97; p=0.04) between the density of the warp threads and the kinking radius.All double-layer prostheses have demonstrated higher water permeability and weak resistance to deformation during radial bending. Samples No.4 and 8 were found to have minimum and maximum water permeability of 276.5 [258.3; 288.4] and 538.8 [533.3; 564.3] ml/min/cm², respectively. The minimum kinking radius (7 mm) was shown by samples No.9 and 10. The worst results were demonstrated by sample No.6, which was deformed with minimal bending.

Samples with ordinary plain weave have a low level of water permeability and high resistance to radial deformation, which makes them look most promising for the application in vascular surgery.