Fabrication and Characterization of Nonwoven Auxetic Polymer Stent

Abstract

Synthetic biomaterials have better controlled physical and mechanical properties and can be used to tailor both soft and hard tissues. A tiny, expandable mesh tubes called stents keep blood vessels open and allow blood flow and treat blockage to improve quality of patient's life. The main focus of this work is to (i) fabricate a polymeric sheet of melt electrospun polycaprolactone microfibers; (ii) tailor auxetic geometry by micromachining on polycaprolactone microfiber and polycaprolactone sheet; (iii) fabricate a cylindrical tube to make auxetic stents. Final results for mechanical characterization and performance analysis of auxetic polymer stents are discussed.