Title: Bioscaffolds development for small-diameter vascular grafts

Authors: Nan Zhao; Donghui Zhu

Addresses: Department of Chemical, Biological and Bio-Engineering, NSF Engineering Research Center-Revolutionizing Metallic Biomaterials, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA ' Department of Chemical, Biological and Bio-Engineering, NSF Engineering Research Center-Revolutionizing Metallic Biomaterials, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

Abstract: Cardiovascular diseases and injuries are one of the leading causes of mortality in the world. Vascular grafts implantation is the standard procedure to treat them, and there is a pressing need to develop small-diameter vascular vessels. Tissue engineering offers one promising approach to address the shortcoming of autologous therapies. Despite the successful application of polyethylene terephthalate (Dacron), polyurethane and Expanded Polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) in large-diameter vascular grafts, the outcome of replacing the native small-diameter vessels by vascular grafts made from those biomaterials is still not satisfactory. Recent studies have shown some significant advances and provide confidence that success may be attainable in the near future. Here, we summarise recent development of bioscaffolds in Small-Diameter Vascular Grafts (SDVG) and discuss the challenges and potential improvements for the future.

Keywords: vascular tissue engineering; scaffolds; biocompatibility; blood vessels; small-diameter vascular grafts; polymers; stenosis; bioengineering; biomedical engineering; biomaterials.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBET.2013.056505

International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, 2013 Vol.12 No.2, pp.113 - 129

Received: 03 May 2013
Accepted: 11 Jul 2013
Published online: 27 Sep 2014 *

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