3D-printing of Urethane-based Photoelastomers for Vascular Tissue Regeneration
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1239-VV08-04
3D printing of Urethane-based Photoelastomers for Vascular Tissue Regeneration. Stefan Baudis,1 Thomas Pulka,2 Bernhard Steyrer,2 Harald Wilhelm,2 Guenter Weigel,3 Helga Bergmeister,3,4 Juergen Stampfl,5 Robert Liska;1 1 Institute of Applied Synthetic Chemistry, Division Macromolecular Chemistry, Vienna University of Technology, Getreidemarkt 9/163MC, 1060 Vienna, Austria 2 TGM Vienna, Wexstrasse 19-23, 1200 Vienna, Austria 3 Ludwig-Boltzmann Cluster for Cardiovascular Research 4 Division of Biomedical Research Medical University Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria 5 Institute of Materials Science and Technology, Vienna University of Technology, Favoritenstraße 9-11, 1040 Vienna, Austria ABSTRACT The mechanical properties of materials designated for vascular tissue replacement are of crucial importance. The elastic modulus, the tensile strength as well as the suture tear resistance have to be adjusted. Our approach is to use photopolymers for artificial vascular grafts. Via the layer-by-layer photopolymerization of suitable resin formulations as performed in additive manufacturing (AM) very complex structures are realizable. Hence AM offer the possibility to create cellular structures within the artificial grafts that might favor the ingrowth of new tissue. Commercially available urethane acrylates (UA) were chosen as base monomers since urethane groups are known to have good cell-adhesion behavior and poly-UAs show adequate mechanical performance. The mechanical properties of the photoelastomers can be tailored by addition of reactive diluents (e.g. 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate, HEA) and thiols (e.g. 3,6-dioxa-1,8-octanedithiol) as chain transfer agents to comply with the mechanical properties of natural blood vessels. To examine the suture tear resistance a new testing method has been developed. Finally, a formulation containing 30 wt% UA and 70 wt% HEA complies with the mechanical properties of natural blood vessels, shows good biocompatibility in in-vitro tests and was successfully 3Dprinted with digital light processing AM. INTRODUCTION Life style diseases, especially diseases of the cardiovascular system are one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in the industrial countries.Coronary heart disease is caused by partial or total occlusion of a coronary artery. The treatment of this disease is typically an aortocoronary bypass operation. In traditional coronary bypass surgery, the occluded artery is bypassed with a vein or an artery from the patient (“Autograft”). As an alternative, artificial blood vessels (“Synthografts”) can be used for vascular reconstruction. However, small caliber prosthetic grafts are not used currently for coronary bypass grafting because of dismal patency rates. In peripheral vascular surgery expanded polytetrafluorethylene (ePTFE) or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are applied [1]. Unfortunately, these materials are only suitable for large diameter reconstructions since synthetic grafts with an inner diameter of less than 5 mm tend to lose patency
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