A SYNTHETIC TUBULAR STRUCTURE

摘要

Production of a synthetic tubular structure for use as an arterial prosthesis comprising a cellular polyurethane tube (10) preformed by coagulation casting onto a former. A water soluble coating (11) having a smooth surface is separately applied to another former (12), and a polyurethane film (13) is solvent cast onto the coating (11). The preformed tube (10) is subsequently shrunk onto the film (13) and the former (12) is removed by dissolving the coating (11) in water. The materials are bio-compatible and compliant to pulsatile flow, and the inner film (13) is smooth to within a tolerance of 10 microns.