As the world demand for consumer electronics becomes saturated, Japanese
manufacturers are diversifying. In a joint patent application, with the
Ajinomoto Company of Tokyo (EP 396 344), Sony describes a method of making
artificial blood vessels.
Two years ago Sony launched a pair of hi-fi headphones, costing several
thousand pounds, which relied on a tiny loudspeaker diaphragm made from
cellulose produced by bacteria that degrade acetic acid.
In its natural state, microbial cellulose is a mesh of very fine fibres,
each less than 100 nanometres in diameter. The fibres are randomly entangled,
with liquid gel trapped between them to create a gelatinous mass. This,
Sony and Ajinomoto claim, is the ideal material from which to make an artificial
blood vessel.
The cellulose is made by culturing bacteria on a material which is permeable
to oxygen, such as cellophane, ceramics or fabric. A gelatinous cellulose
mass grows on the surface of the support material, with the fibres binding
through it. The material is then frozen and bored with a micro drill to
create a tube.
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