Polymeric endoaortic paving (PEAP) is a process by which a polymer is endovascularly delivered and thermoformed to coat or “pave” the lumen of the aorta. This method may offer an improvement to conventional endoaortic therapy in allowing conformal graft application with reduced risk of endoleak and customization to complex patient geometries. Polycaprolactone (PCL)/polyurethane (PU) blends of various blend ratios were assessed as a potential material for PEAP by characterizing their mechanical, thermoforming, and degradation properties. Biaxial tension testing revealed that the blends' stiffness is similar to that of aortic tissue, is higher for blends with more PCL content, and may be affected by thermoforming and degradation. Tubes of blends were able to maintain a higher diameter increase after thermoforming at higher PCL content and higher heating temperatures; 50/50 blend tubes heated to 55°C were able to maintain 90% of the diameter increase applied. Delamination forces of the blends ranged from 41 to 235 N/m2. In a Pseudomonas lipase solution, the 50/50 blend had a 94% lower degradation rate than pure PCL, and the 10/90 blend exhibited no degradation. These results indicate that PEAP, consisting of a PCL/PU blend, may be useful in developing the next generation of endoaortic therapy.

A one-dimensional, large-strain, mixed porohyperelastic transport and swelling (MPHETS) finite element model was developed in MATLAB and incorporated with a well-known growth model for soft tissues to allow the model to grow (increase in length) or shrink (decrease in length) at constant material density. By using the finite element model to determine the deformation and stress state, it is possible to implement different growth laws in the program in the future to simulate how soft tissues grow and behave when exposed to various stimuli (e.g. mechanical, chemical, or electrical). The essential assumptions needed to use the MPHETS model with growth are clearly identified and explained in this paper. The primary assumption in this work, however, is that the stress upon which growth acts is the stress in the solid skeleton, i.e. the effective stress, Seff. It is shown that significantly different amounts of growth are experienced for the same loading conditions when using a porohyperelastic model as compared to a purely solid model. In one particular example, approximately 51% less total growth occurred in the MPHETS model than in the solid model even though both problems were subjected to the same external loading. This work represents a first step in developing more sophisticated models capable of capturing the complex mechanical and biochemical environment in growing and remodeling tissues.

Each year, approximately 200,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs). Despite improved preventative screening programs, AAAs are still listed as the cause of death for an estimated 15,000 Americans each year [1–2]. Despite the relatively low mortality rate for open surgical repair of AAA, the minimally-invasive nature of endovascular repair has made this treatment extremely popular. Our research team seeks to develop the next generation of endovascular stent-grafts which resist the two main modes of graft failure — endoleak and graft migration [3–5]. We believe that such a stent-graft can be made from novel smart polymer formulations. Towards this end, shape memory polymer (SMP) cylindrical tubes were fabricated and tested for their recovery force.

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) have generated a great amount of interest due to their capacity to recover a programmable shape under an applied stimulus, such as temperature change or light irradation [1, 2]. The SMP is initially synthesized with a specific original shape. This shape can be deformed under a mechanical load and at a temperature (TH) greater than the glass transition temperature, Tg. The application of this deformation coupled with subsequent lowering of the temperature (TC) to below the Tg, can fix the polymer in the newly altered formation even after removal of the external load. Increasing the temperature again, to a point above Tg, then activates the shape memory effect, whereby the original shape can be recovered. This shape memory ability is a direct result of specific molecular architecture. Chemical and physical crosslinks and macromolecular chain entanglements are part of this structure. Chemical crosslinks between segments give form to the original shape. Some of these segments are stimuli-sensitive, in other words, segments can become increasingly elastic with the application of thermal energy. This application of energy causes the crystalline structure of these segments to melt and be easily deformed under external load. This temporary shape can now be maintained with the removal of thermal energy leading to re-crystallization. Recoil in this state is prevented by both the new crystalline structure and entanglements of the segments caused by deformation. Physical crosslinks give the architecture permanence, since the linkages do not degrade with stimulus [3]. Different crosslinker formulations can result in varying types of chemical crosslinks. Variations in the structure lead to alterations in the material properties, such as mechanical characteristics and hydrophobicity.