Woven tubular graft with regions of varying flexibility

A graft compatible with living tissue, said graft comprising an elongated tube woven from a plurality of warp yarns oriented in a warp direction substantially lengthwise along said tube and a plurality of fill yarns oriented in a fill direction substantially circumferentially around said tube, said warp and said fill yarns being elastic, said tube comprising a region of relatively greater flexibility oriented in one of said warp and said fill directions, said region of relatively greater flexibility being formable oriented in said warp direction by weaving said warp yarns comprising said region under relatively less tension than the tension at which said warp yarns comprising the remainder of said tube are woven, said region of relatively greater flexibility being formable oriented in said fill direction by weaving said fill yarns comprising said region under relatively less tension than the tension at which said fill yarns comprising the remainder of said tube are woven.

A graft compatible with living tissue, said graft comprising an elongated bifurcated tube comprising a main tube connected with two branch tubes in fluid communication with said main tube, said bifurcated tube terminating in a first end positioned distally from said branch tubes, each of said branch tubes terminating in an end distally from said main tube, said bifurcated tube being woven from a plurality of warp yarns oriented in a warp direction substantially lengthwise along said main and said branch tubes and a plurality of fill yarns oriented in a fill direction substantially circumferentially around said main and said branch tubes, said warp and said fill yarns being elastic, said ends having relatively greater flexibility in said fill direction than said main and said branch tubes between said ends, said ends being formed by weaving said plurality of said fill yarns comprising said ends under relatively less tension than the tension at which said plurality of said fill yarns comprising said main and said branch tubes between said ends are woven.

A graft compatible with living tissue, said graft comprising an elongated tube woven from a plurality of warp yarns oriented in a warp direction substantially lengthwise along said tube and a plurality of fill yarns oriented in a fill direction substantially circumferentially around said tube, said warp and said fill yarns being elastic, said tube comprising first and second regions of relatively greater flexibility positioned at opposite ends of said tube, said first and second regions of greater flexibility being oriented in said fill direction and being formed by including in said first and second regions relatively fewer of said fill yarns per unit length than the number of said fill yarns per unit length comprising the remainder of said tube.

A method of making a graft comprising an elongated tube compatible with living tissue and having a region of relatively greater flexibility, said method comprising the steps of:

• weaving a plurality of elastic warp yarns oriented in a warp direction substantially lengthwise along said tube at a first predetermined tension with a plurality of elastic fill yarns oriented in a fill direction substantially circumferentially around said tube at a second predetermined tension;
• and
• weaving at least some of said yarns over a portion of said tube at a third predetermined tension relatively less than said first and said second tensions thereby forming over said portion said region of relatively greater flexibility, said flexibility being greater in said warp direction if said warp yarns are woven at said third predetermined tension over said portion, said flexibility being greater in said fill direction if said fill yarns are woven at said third predetermined tension over said portion.