Textile arterial prostheses: is water permeability equivalent to porosity?

Porosity and water permeability are two distinct terms that describe different characteristics of vascular prostheses. The porosity is a measure of the void fraction within the prosthesis wall and is believed to give a rough prediction of the capacity of the graft to anchor newly formed surrounding tissue after implantation, whereas the water permeability indicates the rate at which water can flow through the prosthesis wall and, when measured under physiological pressure conditions, provides the surgeon with information about the need for preclotting prior to implantation. The literature has not always clearly distinguished between these two terms, and some authors in fact have suggested that they both refer to the same property of a prosthesis. In an attempt to clarify the issue, porosity and water permeability measurements were made on 34 commercial vascular prostheses having different textile constructions. Linear regression analysis demonstrated that these two characteristics are only weakly related (r = 0.59). It is therefore recommended that the current draft standards for such devices reference both properties: porosity and water permeability.