Dynamic vascular flow simulation
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Σαρακίνης, Ανδρέας
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Abstract
Artificial blood vessels composed of viable tissue represent the ideal vascular
graft. The limited availability of healthy autologous vessels for bypass grafting
procedures has led to the fabrication of prosthetic vascular conduits. Compliance,
resistance to infections as well as the ability to remodel and secrete normal blood
vessels products are theoretical advantages of such grafts.
The electrospinning technique is a flexible and evolving technology for the
production of nanofibers. The excellent features of the nanostructured membranes, including large surface area, high porosity, flexibility and adjustable porosity size distribution, makes them suitable candidates for a wide range of applications, including biomedical and tissue engineering applications, such as the production of artificial vessels. The diameter and morphology of the nanofibers can be modified accordingly with their implementation. Uniaxially aligned nanofiber scaffolds can promote cell migration along a specific direction, as fiber alignment can have great effect on cellular adhesion, proliferation, and morphology. The ability to improve their morphology and mechanical properties allows us to change their shape and form small caliber cylindrical vessels. In this thesis, we present a method for the controlled deposition and alignment of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibers with the electrospinning process, using a cylindrical rotating drum collector. The layer by layer technique was used for producing scaffolds by both PVA and PCL. Then, the scaffolds were morphologically characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), as well as their mechanical properties and contact angle (wettability measurement) were checked. In addition, the vessel was then inserted into a heart circulatory system and a simulation was made, measuring its diameter and pressure for different flow rates. Finally, a virtual vessel was designed at the computer to validate the results from the laboratory’s experiments with the help of finite element analysis.
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Keywords
Vessels, Electrospinning, Flow simulation, Biomaterials, Finite elements