Patent attributes
Methods for forming vascular components include providing a composite sacrificial body comprising a first sacrificial material having an outer surface and a second sacrificial material applied to at least a portion of the outer surface, molding a solid substrate around the composite sacrificial body, removing the first sacrificial material by deflagration such that at least a portion of the second sacrificial material remains in the same orientation relative to the substrate as originally molded, and subsequently removing the second sacrificial material by a non-deflagration process to form a vascular component. The second sacrificial material can include a phase change material, a syntactic foam including hollow beads bound together with a polymeric binder or a sintered aggregation of hollow beads, a polymeric foam, a water-soluble resin, or an aerogel. The non-deflagration process can include mechanical pulverization, contacting the second sacrificial material with a solvent or chemical etching agent.
