Gelatin Prostheses

Chakf6 N, Marois Y, Guidoin R, Deng X, Marois M, Roy R,King MW, DouviUe Y. Biocompatibility and biofunctionahty of a gelatin impregnated polyester arterial prosthesis. Polym. Polym. Compos. 1 229-251,1993. 

During the application of vascular prosthesis, the porosity of the textile structure would cause bleeding if the pores are not temporarily closed. Pore closure used to be achieved by soaking the artificial vessel in blood and allowing it to clot. Today, most prostheses are coated with a gel, usually gelatin. In both cases the closing material is degraded by the body over time and replaced by proteins deposited from the blood, which is called neointima or pseudointima. 

In order to bypass blocked blood vessel parts, often woven, weft and warp knitted artificial vessels are used. Their diameter can be up to 30 mm wide. These pros-theses are mainly sealed using collagen or gelatin coating. An alternative is the so-called preclotting where the prosthesis is drenched in the patient s blood and implanted after the blood has clotted. 

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