About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2027 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Advanced Biomaterials and Implants
|
| Presentation Title |
Architecture-Controlled Compliance in Bioinspired Fibrous Hydrogel Vascular Grafts |
| Author(s) |
Dekel Maroz, Mirit Sharabi |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Dekel Maroz |
| Abstract Scope |
Small-diameter vascular grafts remain limited by compliance mismatch with native arteries. Here, we present a bioinspired fibrous hydrogel composite in which vascular-like nonlinear mechanics are programmed through fiber reinforcement architecture. Continuous silk fibers were embedded within an alginate-polyacrylamide interpenetrating polymer network hydrogel and assembled into tubular constructs using three architectures: cross-plied 0°/90° fibers, ±25° reoriented fibers, and cross-plied fibers with controlled crimp. Pressure-diameter testing was performed across physiologically relevant pressures, and compliance was quantified over hypotensive, normotensive, and hypertensive ranges. Compared with the cross-plied design, fiber reorientation and crimp delayed fiber recruitment during inflation, producing a larger toe-like region and increased low-pressure compliance. Crimped constructs showed the highest compliance and most closely approached the behavior of young coronary arteries, while maintaining fiber-reinforced structural integrity. These results demonstrate how simple architectural modifications can tune hydrogel composite graft mechanics toward native vascular function. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Biomaterials, Composites, Mechanical Properties |