Development of electrospun composite as substitutive diaphragm membrane

Abstract

The diaphragm is the most important muscle for respiration with a bi-domed structure, which is separating thoracic cavity from abdominal cavity. Partial formation of diaphragm, with unknown reason during fetal development caused a birth defect called congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). It allows the abdomen contents to go up into the chest cavity resulting in pulmonary hypoplasia, which is the major cause of the mortality. There are several types of membrane, which can be used as prostheses to close the existing hole. In this project, we study the tensile properties of electrospun PA-6 nanowebs and electrospun PA-6/B composite as substitution membrane by a comparison with the tensile properties of tendon part of pig's diaphragm.