University of Melbourne researchers have developed a fast, inexpensive and scalable method for engineering blood vessels from natural tissue.
By combining multiple materials and fabrication technologies, they developed a method to create blood vessels with complex geometries like native blood vessels.
The research was published in the journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.
Blood vessels serve an important function in sustaining life, by carrying oxygen-rich blood and essential nutrients to all parts of the body while removing toxic products. Illness and dysfunction in blood vessels, on the other hand, can result in life-threatening disorders such as heart attacks, strokes and aneurysms, making cardiovascular disease the number one killer globally.
Researchers around the world have been trying to perfect blood vessel tissue engineering for many years.
Current methods are slow, require specialised and expensive equipment like bioreactors, and are low throughput – meaning it’s difficult to provide the needed supply of engineered vessels.
The researcher says that by combining multiple materials and fabrication technologies, their method brings them closer to a future where engineered blood vessels will become a transformative solution for cardiovascular disease, especially for those patients who lack suitable donor vessels.
While bypass surgery has proved a life-saving alternative for replacing severely damaged blood vessels, it has limitations, particularly for smaller diameter blood channels such as the coronary artery. Non-living synthetic grafts can cause blood clotting and obstruction, making them unsuitable in some circumstances. As a result, patients who have limited options due to past surgery or comorbidities such as diabetes face significant problems.
To overcome these limitations, the researchers investigated developing ’tissue-engineered’ blood vessels, which are made from human cells and tissues. These created vessels have the potential to treat cardiovascular illness, as well as construct built-in blood supply for larger tissue creations.
While the engineered blood vessels are not yet ready for bypass surgery, the findings mark a significant advancement in the field of tissue engineering.
News source: Eurekalert
