Patent Description:
With the aging of the population, the incidence rate of vascular diseases such as aortic aneurysm and aortic dissection have been greatly rising. Vascular reconstruction accomplished by resection and endovascular exclusion can greatly prolong patients' life. An aortic dissection (AD) is a condition in which blood flowing inside the aortic lumen enters the aortic media via a teared aortic intima and further tears the media tissue longitudinally along the aorta, thus forming a false lumen in addition to the real lumen. ADs are divided into De-Bake types I, II and III according to where the intimal tears originate. They all feature a dangerous onset and a high mortality rate. An artificial blood vessel sutured with a metal stent thereon, i.e., an intraoperative stent, may be delivered to the lesion site through open surgery, and the artificial blood vessel is secured without suture at both ends of the lesion artery by elastic expansion force of the stent, thus completely sealing the intimal breach. At the same time, a portion of the artificial blood vessel not sutured to the stent (about <NUM> long) is sutured to the aortic arch, thus achieving the purpose of AD treatment.

Research on woven artificial blood vessels has started since Voorhees observed the phenomenon of cells growing on a silk thread immersed in blood in <NUM>. As far, traditional textile techniques such as weaving, knitting and non-weaving remain mainstream methods for preparing artificial blood vessels. Materials of artificial blood vessels have experienced several generations of changes from metals and Vinyon-N to today's polyesters, silk, polytetrafluoroethylene, etc. The selection of appropriate fiber materials and textile structures has always been a research focus of domestic and foreign experts and scholars. Woven artificial blood vessels involve basic tissues of textile weaves such as plain weave, twill weave and satin weave or various variants thereof. Among them, plain weave artificial blood vessels are widely used because of their compact tube wall structure and small deformation, together with their minimum water (blood) permeability. However, low softness of such blood vessels will make it difficult to operate and suture during surgery, and even cause cell adhesion and growth difficulty, which is not conductive to the endothelialization of cells. Finally, it will lead to vascular blockage and other problems.

<CIT> discloses a vascular graft prosthesis of woven synthetic yarn where selected fill threads are woven into S-shaped lock elements about selected warp threads to provide a tubular fabric that resists fraying when cut at an oblique angle. <CIT> discloses graft prostheses woven with cross-weave patterns to prevent unravelling and to increase suture hold strength. <CIT> discloses an integrally-molded woven blood vessel covered stent and a preparation method thereof.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an artificial blood vessel and a method of preparing the same, which can overcome the problems of low softness and excessive permeability of conventional artificial blood vessels.

To this end, the present invention provides a method of preparing an artificial blood vessel as defined in the appended claim <NUM>.

Optionally, in the method, an area ratio of the first weave to the second weave may be from <NUM>: <NUM> to <NUM>: <NUM>.

Optionally, the method may further include sizing the warp yarns, before the warp and weft yarns are woven into the composite fabric.

Before the composite fabric is corrugated, the method may further include desizing the composite fabric.

Optionally, in the method, the warp yarns may be sized at a sizing rate of <NUM> to <NUM>/min and a drying cylinder temperature of <NUM> to <NUM>.

Optionally, in the method, the desizing may be accomplished at a temperature within the range of <NUM> to <NUM> for <NUM> to <NUM>.

Optionally, in the method, the warp and weft yarns may be spun yarns made of polymer materials with biocompatibility.

Optionally, in the method, a material of the spun yarns may be at least one selected from the group of polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene, polytetrafluoroethylene and natural mulberry silk.

Optionally, in the method, the weft yarns may be selected from the group of monofilament, multiple wound yarns and twisted yarns.

The present invention also provides an artificial blood vessel as defined in appended claim <NUM>.

Optionally, in the artificial blood vessel, an area ratio of the first weave to the second weave may be from <NUM>: <NUM> to <NUM>: <NUM>.

In summary, the present invention provides an artificial blood vessel and a method of preparing the same. In the composite structure of the artificial blood vessel with the alternating first and second weaves formed by the warp and weft yarns according to the independent claims, a softness degree of the first weave is lower than that of the second weave. As a result, combining stiffness of the first weave with softness of the second weave, this composite structure ensures both low permeability and increased softness of the fabric. Therefore, it is improved to a certain extent over the conventional woven artificial blood vessels and is easier to handle and suture.

The present invention is mainly to solve the problems of low softness and excessive permeability of conventional artificial blood vessels.

In view of the above, the present invention provides an artificial blood vessel and a method for preparing the same. The method includes: weaving warp and weft yarns to form a composite fabric with alternating plain and satin weaves; and successively corrugating and thermal-setting the composite fabric to obtain an artificial blood vessel. The artificial blood vessel adopts a composite structure of the plain and satin weaves formed by the warp and weft yarns, which not only ensures low permeability but improves the softness of the fabric. Therefore, the artificial blood vessel obtained in the present application has certain advantages over conventional woven artificial blood vessels and is easier to operate and suture.

The artificial blood vessel and method proposed by the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying figures and specific embodiments. Note that the figures are provided in a very simplified form not necessarily drawn to exact scale and for the only purpose of facilitating easy and clear description of the embodiments. In addition, the structures shown in the figures are usually partially representations of their actual counterparts. In particular, as the figures would have different emphases, they are sometimes drawn to different scales.

As shown in <FIG>, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the method for preparing an artificial blood vessel includes the following steps:.

To make the composite fabric to meet the requirements of low permeability and high softness, in step S11, an area ratio of the first weave to the second weave may be <NUM>: <NUM> to <NUM>: <NUM>. In particular, the area ratio may be <NUM>: <NUM>, <NUM>: <NUM>, <NUM>: <NUM> or the like.

In this embodiment, the first weave is a plain weave and the second weave is a satin weave. The characteristic of plain weave is that warp yarns and weft yarns are interwoven with each other, and the interweaving of two adjacent yarns is just the opposite. Interweaving points of each yarn are exactly on the opposite sides of respective interweaving points of each adjacent yarn. Compared with other weaves, the plain weave has the most interweaving points. Hence, the plain weave endows the fabric a stiff and smooth surface and hand feeling. The characteristic of satin weave is that the warp and weft yarns will form some independent and unconnected weave points. Compared with other weaves, the stain weave has less interweaving points. Most of the warp (weft) yarns float on the weft (warp) yarns, and long floating warp (weft) lines are visible on the fabric surface. Hence, the satin weave endows the fabric soft hand feeling but prone to being snagged and pilled. In view of the above, combining a plain weave with a satin weave can result in a fabric with uniform long yarn floating lines on the surface, which endows the fabric a relatively soft feeling and is not prone to being snagged and pilled.

In some examples, the warp and weft yarns are implemented as spun yarns of a biocompatible polymer material. For example, a material of the warp and weft yarns is selected from the following group: polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene, polytetrafluoroethylene and natural mulberry silk.

A fineness of the warp yarns may be <NUM> tex (<NUM> D) to <NUM> tex (<NUM> D). The warp yarns may be multifilament yarns each composed of different numbers of monofilament yarns. In one example, before the warp and weft yarns are woven into the composite fabric, the warp yarns are sized to form a uniform size layer coated on the surface, the sizing is conducted at a sizing rate of <NUM>-<NUM>/min and a drying cylinder temperature of <NUM> to <NUM>. The size layer would increase the strength and friction resistance of warp yarns. After that, the sized warp yarns may be further subjected to sectional warping.

Since there is no need for the weft yarns to pass through heddle eyes or reed dents during the weaving process, they are less worn and do not need to be sized. Therefore, the weft yarns may be selected from the group of monofilament, multiple wound yarns and twisted yarns. The fineness of the weft yarns may range from <NUM> tex (<NUM> D) to <NUM> tex (<NUM> D). The number of single yarns in multiple yarns may range from <NUM> to <NUM>, and a twist level thereof may range from <NUM> to <NUM> turns per <NUM>. After being twisted, torsion between fibers within the yarns will increase, and distance between fibers will also increase with the increase of its twist level. As a result, when aforementioned warp yarns and weft yarns interlaced with each other, a porosity of the resulting fabric will increase accordingly. Therefore, permeability of a fabric has a close relationship with the twist level of the used yarns. Hence, it is suggested to select yarns with appropriate twist level according to practical needs. In one example, before the warp and weft yarns are woven to form the composite fabric, the weft yarns are subject to a winding or twisting operation on a winder or twister. They are then evenly wound on a shuttle and thus get ready to be woven. If the weft yarns are selected to be monofilament yarns, the number of single yarns in wound yarns would be set to zero for the winder. In another example, there is no need for the weft yarns to be twisted, then the twist level would be set to zero for the twister.

The warp and weft yarns may be woven on a high-precision weaving machine. After the warp yarns are unrolled from a warp beam, the warp yarns further undergo a sequential threading treatment, i.e., the warp yarns sequentially pass through heddle eyes and reed dents. After that, the warp yarns interlace with the weft yarns to form the composite fabric with interlaced plain and satin weaves.

During the weaving process, the warp yarns will receive repeated friction from heddle eyes, reed dents and shuttle. The friction makes the warp yarns prone to being snagged and pilled, and causes warp yarns to break, resulting in obvious defects on the fabric surface. Consequently, after subsequent corrugating and setting treatment, the appearance of artificial blood vessels presents defects such as lousiness, resulting in an uneven tube wall thereof, which may have an adverse effect on treatment effect when using the artificial blood vessel. In order to avoid this, according to embodiments of the present application, before the warp and weft yarns are woven to form the composite fabric, i.e., prior to the warp yarns treading through the heddle eyes, reed dents and shuttle successively, the warp yarns are sized to ensure the process goes smooth and finally enable the resulting artificial blood vessel to have an even tube wall.

After the warp yarns are sized in step S11 and before the composite fabric is corrugated in step S12, the composite fabric is desized. In one example, the de-sizing is accomplished at a temperature in the range of <NUM> to <NUM> for a period of time ranging from <NUM> to <NUM>.

During the corrugation of the composite fabric in step <NUM>, the desized composite fabric may be disposed on a stainless steel core shaft with a pitch of <NUM> to <NUM>, and a thick-denier high-strength yarn may be then wound thereon with a tension of <NUM>/N to <NUM>/N. During the setting process, the core shaft with the wound fabric thereon may be disposed in hot water at a temperature of <NUM>-<NUM> for <NUM>-<NUM> to stabilize the corrugated shape of the fabric, and then dried. In this way, the artificial blood vessel with high softness and low permeability can be obtained.

Embodiments of the present application also provide an artificial blood vessel, which is prepared by the methods above. The artificial blood vessel is a three-dimensional tube obtained from a thermal setting process and having a diameter of <NUM> to <NUM>. Further, according to the invention, the composite fabric of the artificial blood vessel has a warp density ranging from <NUM> yarns per <NUM> to <NUM> yarns per <NUM> and a weft density ranging from <NUM> yarns per <NUM> to <NUM> yarns per <NUM>, which ensure that the artificial blood vessel has desirable softness and low permeability.

In order to enable the composite fabric to have both low permeability and high softness, in some examples, the area ratio of the first weave to the second weave is <NUM>: <NUM>, the first weave is a plain weave, and the second weave is a satin weave with warps floating over <NUM> to <NUM> wefts. The artificial blood vessel and method according to the present application will be explained in detail below by way of the exemplary examples. Advantages and objects of the present application will be more apparent from the description of the following examples.

The warp yarns were <NUM> tex/24F (80D/24F) medical grade polyethylene terephthalate yarns, which were multifilament yarns each composed of <NUM> monofilament yarns and had been sized. The weft yarns were twisted yarns wherein <NUM> monofilaments were twisted at a level of <NUM> turns per <NUM>, each made of <NUM> tex (40D) polyester. A composite fabric was made of plain weaves and satin weaves with <NUM> long floating lines, wherein the area ratio of the plain weaves to the satin weaves was <NUM>: <NUM>. The composite fabric was further processed into a fabric tube with a diameter of <NUM>.

The appearance of the composite fabric is shown in <FIG>, wherein black blocks represent warp interlacing points of the plain weave, gray blocks represent warp interlacing points of the satin weave. Moreover, the number of long warp floating lines was <NUM>, and white blocks represent weft interlacing points. The Arabic numerals <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>. <NUM> denote the plain weave, and the capital letters A, B, C. J denote the satin weave.

The fabric for the artificial blood vessel was woven on a high-precision weaving machine, and had a warp density of <NUM> yarns per <NUM> and a weft density of <NUM> yarns per <NUM>. The total number of the warp yarns was <NUM>, each has <NUM> fibers, and warp beams of two systems operated simultaneously to feed the warp yarns. A sequential threading process followed, which involved threading the warp yarns through a total of <NUM> reed dents successively. During the weaving process, the yarns were weaved with even tension, and no breakage or pilling occurred. In this way, the resulting composite fabric had noticeable floating lines, a uniform and neat texture, and glossy and clean appearance.

The composite fabric was subject to desizing, corrugating and thermal setting processes in sequence. The desizing process was carried out at a temperature of <NUM> for <NUM>. After the desizing process, the composite fabric was disposed on a stainless steel core shaft with a pitch of <NUM>, and a thick-denier high-strength yarn was then wound thereon with a tension of <NUM>/N to corrugate the fabric. After the corrugating process, the core shaft with the composite fabric wound thereon was thermal set by placing it in hot water at a temperature of <NUM> for <NUM>. After the corrugated shape of the fabric was stabilized, it was dried. Finally, artificial blood vessel with three-dimensional tubular form was obtained.

The artificial blood vessel prepared in Embodiment <NUM> has desirable softness. In a heart loop test, a loop height was measured as <NUM>. It is generally believed that a greater loop height indicates better softness. At a pressure of <NUM> kPa, its permeability was measured to be <NUM>/cm<NUM>•min. Generally, a permeability below <NUM>/cm<NUM>•min is considered to be low. Chemical analysis was performed on the artificial blood vessel prepared in Embodiment <NUM>, according to Chinese national standard <CIT>, i.e., Test methods for Infusion, Transfusion, and Injection Equipment for Medical Use, Part <NUM>: Chemical Analysis Methods. Further, biological test was also performed to the artificial blood vessel of Embodiment <NUM> in accordance with Chinese national standards <CIT>, i.e., Biological Evaluation of Medical Devices, Part <NUM>: Selection of Tests for Interactions with Blood, and <CIT>, i.e., Biological Evaluation of Medical Devices, Part <NUM>: Tests for in Vitro Cytotoxicity. The results of the chemical analysis and biological tests are summarized in Table <NUM> below.

As can be seen from Table <NUM>, the artificial blood vessel prepared in Embodiment <NUM> meets all the chemical and biological performance requirements.

The warp yarns were <NUM>. 11tex/72f (100D/72f) medical grade polytetrafluoroethylene yarns, which were multifilament yarns each composed of <NUM> monofilament yarns and had been sized. The weft yarns were multiple wound yarns with <NUM> monofilaments that were not twisted, each made of <NUM> tex (40D) polytetrafluoroethylene filaments. A composite fabrics were made of plain weaves and satin weaves with <NUM> long floating lines, wherein the area ratio of the plain weaves to the satin weaves was <NUM>: <NUM>. The composite fabric was further processed into a fabric tube with a diameter of <NUM>.

The appearance of the composite fabric is shown in <FIG>, wherein black blocks represent warp interlacing points of the plain weave, gray blocks represent warp interlacing points of the satin weave. Moreover, the number of long warp floating lines was <NUM>, and white blocks represent weft interlacing points. The Arabic numerals <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>. <NUM> denote the plain weave, and the capital letters A, B, C. F denote the satin weave.

The fabric for the artificial blood vessel was woven on a high-precision weaving machine and had a warp density of <NUM> yarns per <NUM> and a weft density of <NUM> yarns per <NUM>. The total number of the warp yarns was <NUM>, each has <NUM> fibers, and warp beams of two systems operated simultaneously to feed the warp yarns. A sequential threading process followed, which involved threading the warp yarns through a total of <NUM> reed dents successively. During the weaving process, the yarns were weaved with even tension, and no breakage or pilling occurred. In this war, the resulting composite fabric had noticeable floats, a uniform and neat texture, and glossy and clean appearance.

The composite fabric was subject to desizing, corrugating and thermal setting processes in sequence. The desizing process was carried out at a temperature of <NUM> for <NUM>. After the desizing proces, the composite fabric was disposed on a stainless steel core shaft with a pitch of <NUM>, and a thick-denier high-strength yarn was then wound thereon with a tension of <NUM>/N to corrugate the fabric. After the corrugating process, the core shaft with the composite fabric wound thereon was thermal-set by placing it in hot water at a temperature of <NUM> for <NUM>. After the corrugated shape of the fabric was stabilized, it was dried. Finally, artificial blood vessel with three-dimensional tubular form was obtained.

The artificial blood vessel prepared in Embodiment <NUM> has desirable softness. In a heart loop test, a loop height was measured as <NUM>. It is generally believed that a greater loop height indicates better softness. At a pressure of <NUM> kPa, its permeability was measured to be <NUM>/cm<NUM>•min. It was further subjected to the same chemical analysis and biological performance tests as in Embodiment <NUM>, and the test results met all the requirements.

The warp yarns were <NUM>. 44tex/16f (40D/16f) medical grade polyethylene terephthalate yarns, which were multifilament yarns each composed of <NUM> monofilament yarns and had been sized. The weft yarns were twisted at a level of <NUM> turns per <NUM>. A composite fabric was made of plain weaves and satin weaves with <NUM> long floating lines, wherein the area ratio of the plain weaves to the satin weaves was <NUM>: <NUM>. The composite fabric was further processed into a fabric tube with a diameter of <NUM>.

The appearance of the composite fabric is shown in <FIG>, wherein black blocks represent warp interlacing points of the plain weave, gray blocks represent warp interlacing points of the satin weave. Moreover, the number of long warp floating lines was <NUM>, and white blocks represent weft interlacing points. The Arabic numerals <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>. <NUM> denote the plain weave, and the capital letters A, B, C. H denote the satin weave.

The fabric for the artificial blood vessel was woven on a high-precision weaving machine, and had a warp density of <NUM> yarns per <NUM> and a weft density of <NUM> yarns per <NUM>. The total number of the warp yarns was <NUM>, and warp beams of two systems operated simultaneously to feed the warp yarns. A sequential threading process followed, which involved threading the warp yarns through a total of <NUM> reed dents successively. During the weaving process, the yarns were weaved with even tension, and no breakage or pilling occurred. The resulting composite fabric had noticeable floating lines, a uniform and neat texture, and glossy and clean appearance.

The composite fabric was subject to desizing, corrugating and thermal setting processes in sequence. The desizing process was carried out at a temperature of <NUM> for <NUM>. After the desizing process, the composite fabric was disposed on a stainless steel core shaft with a pitch of <NUM>, and a thick-denier high-strength yarn was then wound thereon with a tension of <NUM>/N to corrugate the fabric. After the corrugating process, the core shaft with the composite fabric wound thereon was thermal-set by placing it in hot water at a temperature of <NUM> for <NUM>. After the corrugated shape of the fabric was stabilized, it was dried. Finally, artificial blood vessel with three-dimensional tubular form was obtained.

It is to be noted that although several artificial blood vessels and methods for preparing same have been described above as examples, it would be appreciated that, according to the present embodiment, the parameters such as yarn diameters/numbers and twist level may also be chosen from the scopes as mentioned above in the description. Therefore, the foregoing examples may be modified to obtain various alternatives, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

In conclusion, the artificial blood vessel and the method provided in the present application solve the problems of inadequate softness and excessive permeability of the conventional artificial blood vessels.

Claim 1:
A method for preparing an artificial blood vessel, comprising:
weaving warp yarns and weft yarns to form interlaced first weaves and second weaves, both weaves extend along a weft direction to obtain a composite fabric; and
successively corrugating and thermal-setting the composite fabric to obtain the artificial blood vessel, wherein
the first weaves are plain weaves and the second weaves are satin weaves, each plain weave and each satin weave alternate with each other, and each of the satin weaves has warps floating over <NUM> to <NUM> wefts;
the composite fabric has a warp density in the range of <NUM> yarns per <NUM> to <NUM> yarns per <NUM> and a weft density of <NUM> yarns per <NUM> to <NUM> yarns per <NUM>.