| abstract |
(57) Abstract: A high-strength porous polytetrafluoroethylene sheet material having high strength in all directions in the plane of the sheet material. The sheet material has a higher minimum tensile strength, matrix tensile strength, secant modulus, and matrix secant modulus, respectively, in the plane of the sheet than previously known porous polytetrafluoroethylene sheet materials. The sheet material is a multi-layer laminate of a porous polytetrafluoroethylene film, preferably a uniaxially stretched film, wherein the orientation of the fibril direction of any of the layers is, for example, about 10 ° from the orientation of the fibrils of the adjacent layer. Slightly. The sheet material is particularly useful as a surgical repair patch, especially as a vascular repair patch, due to its high strength, flexibility, biocompatibility, and very low rate of suture line bleeding. |