In vitro study of proliferation and cellularisation on electrospun membranes for vascular prosthesis

Tissue engineering applied to new therapies with synthetic vascular grafts, represents a breakthrough to improve the results of biocompatibility and functionality of implants for use in patients with cardiovascular disease. The manufacturing of vascular implants with electrospinning technique has gained interest for small-diameter blood vessels, thanks to its ability to generate micro-porous structures with large surface area. The objective of this work was to study the proliferation and generation of cellular environment, and how it influences the growth rate on the permeability, and porosity of electrospun membrane for use as vascular prostheses. Polyurethane membranes with shape memory (Irogran) were manufactured considering two thicknesses by electrospinning: Sample 0, between 0,2mm and 0,9mm, and sample +1, between 0,9mm and 1,0mm. In an in vitro model, cardiac fibroblasts were cultivated for a period of up to 10 days of incubation. The cell proliferation was evaluated by means of optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the porosity and permeability were evaluated by mean of hydrostatic pressure and gravimetric technique, according to ISO 7198 international standard. It was found that samples +1 have an average permeability of 55,5% less than samples 0, and a reduction of porosity of 10,24%, associated to higher cellular growth evidenced by cell syncytium. This paper concludes that the variation of microporous structures with large surface area, affects the cell growth and subsequently the permeability and porosity, opening a great opportunity for its potential use in vascular applications.