Effects of Process Parameters on Physical and Biological Properties of a Small Caliber Vascular Prosthesis

A method is described for the production of collagen constructs formed from densely packed, native-banded collagen fibrils. This “Dense Fibrillar Collagen” is formed by concentrating collagen in situ prior to self assembly of the collagen into fibrils. The effect of altering the pH, ionic strength, and osmolarity of the concentrating solution was measured. Increasing the ionic strength and osmolarity of the concentrating solution increased the burst strength of the constructs; increasing the pH from 3.8 to 7.1 reduced the surface fibrillarity, degree of platelet uptake and “short term in vivo thrombogenicity. This construct is being considered as the basis of a small-caliber vascular prosthesis to support guided tissue regeneration.