DIRECTIONAL POROSITY OF PORCINE SMALL-INTESTINAL SUBMUCOSA

Small-intestinal submucosa (SIS) has been shown to be a promising biom aterial for vascular graft applications. This study. examines the dire ctionality property of SIS porosity using 35 SIS specimens from 13 pig s. In addition, the effects of the weight of the donor pig, preconditi oning of 13 additional SIS specimens, and the duration of the test of five additional SIS specimens on such porosity are reported. The poros ity from serosal to mucosal direction was found to be four times great er than the porosity in the opposite direction. The weight of the dono r pig was not found to be an important factor in SIS porosity. Precond itioning served to increase the average serosal porosity index at 120 mm Hg static water pressure from 2.99 to 8.33 mL/(min cm2). The porosi ty in the mucosal direction was not affected by preconditioning. Poros ity in both directions decreased with increasing test duration. The di rectionality property of SIS porosity may be an important factor in it s success as a vascular graft. The term 'porosity' is used throughout this article, but current standards also refer to the term 'permeabili ty' to describe the passage of liquid through a vascular graft. (C) 19 93 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.