Directional permeability in a porcine carotid elastin biomaterial vascular conduit

Purified porcine carotid elastin is under development as a substrate for a vascular conduit. The permeability of the graft may have implications in recellularization. Light and scanning electron microscopy indicate that the lumen and adventitial surfaces have unique extracellular matrix morphology. This study investigates the permeability of the material, with consideration of the direction of the flow. The permeability of the adventitial surface was found to be approximately twice that of the lumenal surface. The mean permeability was 0.0123 ± 0.005 mL/min*cm² for flow through from lumen surface to the adventitial surface and 0.0310 ± 0.007 mL/min*cm² for flow through the adventitial surface to the lumen surface. The difference in elastin architecture can be taken advantage of to optimize recellularization in vitro and in vivo. This is only the second biomaterial to have this described behavior.