Development of polymeric small-caliber vascular grafts exploiting the synergies between computational modeling and advanced fabrication approaches

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are one of the major causes of death in the population and the principal cause of many debilitating conditions that affect normal healthy life. Most CVDs affect the functionalities of coronary arteries that are commonly replaced by small-caliber grafts (with diameters less than 6 mm) to recover the physiological flow of blood from occlusions or permanent damage. This work aims at developing a new generation of polymeric vascular grafts by exploiting electrospinning and 3D printing manufacturing processes. Computational modeling will be also exploited to evaluate the spatio-temporal distribution of blood agglomerates under different fluidic regimes, and their influence on the mechanical behavior of the grafts.