Fabrication and characterization of hollow electrospun PLA structure through a modified electrospinning method applicable as vascular graft

In this study, vascular scaffolds were fabricated through a facile and modified method using an electrospinning procedure. For fabrication of scaffolds, at first, a three-layered nanofibrous structure comprising of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) multifilament, PVA nanofibres and electrospun PLA fibres, respectively, as the core, middle and outer layers were produced. Then, the hollow PLA nanofibrous structure was obtained after elimination of the middle layer in water and extraction of the core part. The fabricated structures illustrated PLA nanofibres with diameters in the range of 100 to 350 nm. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis confirmed that the PLA structure remained intact during fabrication procedure of the hollow vascular grafts. The results of cell culture and cell attachment assays showed that human fibroblast cells could adhere and proliferate appropriately on the designed nanofibrous scaffold. Moreover, the hemolysis assay proved that the prepared vascular graft was non-hemolytic. The electrospun structures also exhibited proper mechanical characteristics for the considered application.