FACTORS AFFECTING THE MORPHOLOGY AND MECHANICAL-PROPERTIES OF A COAGULATED THERMOPLASTIC POLYURETHANE

One of the principal failures of current vascular prostheses is compli ant mismatch between the host arteries and prostheses at the anastomos es. Current commercial vascular prostheses are fabricated using either microporous poly(tetrafluoroethylene) or poly(ethylene terephthalate) , both of which are incompliant in comparison with the host artery. Th ermoplastic polyurethanes that are inherently compliant, therefore, of fer the potential for use as vascular prostheses. This article present s a new approach to produce a compliant microporous thermoplastic poly urethane material using a coagulation coating technique. A study on th e factors affecting the physical and structural behaviors based on por ous polyurethane membranes were investigated. The effects of coagulant s and coagulation temperatures on the properties of the coagulums were evaluated and the mechanism for the formation of microcellular struct ures was discussed. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.