Fabrication ofTriple Layered Vascular Scaffolds by Combining Electrospinning, Braiding, and Thermally Induced Phase Separation.

Triple layered small diameter vascular scaffolds, which consisted of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and silk, were fabricated in this study for the first time by combining electrospinning, braiding, and thermally induced phase separation methods. These novel vascular scaffolds, which possess three layers of different structures (nanofibrous inner layer, woven silk filament middle layer, and porous outer layer) have a desired toe region in the tensile test and sufficient suture retention and burst pressure for vascular graft applications. The endothelia cell culture tests showed that a cell layer could form on the inner surface of a scaffold with high cell viability. Furthermore, the cells showed favorable morphology on the scaffold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]