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There is a growing demand for off-the-shelf tissue engineered vascular grafts (TEVGs) for replacement or bypass of damaged arteries in various cardiovascular diseases. Scaffolds from the decellularized tissue skeletons to biopolymers and biodegradable synthetic polymers have been used for fabricating TEVGs. However, several issues have not yet been resolved, which include the inability to mimic the mechanical properties of native tissues, and the ability for long term patency and growth required for in vivo function. Electrospinning is a popular technique for the production of scaffolds that has the potential to address these issues. However, its application to human TEVGs has not yet been achieved. This review provides an overview of tubular scaffolds that have been prepared by electrospinning with potential for TEVG applications.

Abstract:The focus in the field of biomedical engineering has shifted in recent years to biodegradable polymers and, in particular, polyesters. Dozens of polyester-based medical devices are commercially available, and every year more are introduced to the market. The mechanical performance and wide range of biodegradation properties of this class of polymers allow for high degrees of selectivity for targeted clinical applications. Recent research endeavors to expand the application of polymers have been driven by a need to target the general hydrophobic nature of polyesters and their limited cell motif sites. This review provides a comprehensive investigation into advanced strategies to modify polyesters and their clinical potential for future biomedical applications.

The three most common methods of sterilization in use today are ethylene oxide exposure, ␥-irradiation, and steam sterilization. Each of these methods has serious limitations for the sterilization of some materials used in medicine, especially thermally and hydrolytically sensitive polymers by themselves and in combination with proteins. In this work, we demonstrate a potential new method of sterilization by using supercritical f luid carbon dioxide. Using this method we achieve complete inactivation of a wide variety of bacterial organisms at moderate temperatures and in the absence of organic solvents or irradiation. Sterilization is a function of both the proximity to the f luid's critical point and the chemical nature of the f luid itself. When biodegradable polymers poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid and polylactic acid were included in the sterilization process, there was no effect on the inactivation efficiency, yet no physical or chemical damage to these thermally and hydrolytically labile materials was observed.