Researchers at the Vienna University of Technology and Vienna Medical University in Austria have developed artificial blood vessels that are already proving themselves in animal models. Created out of thermoplastic polyurethane, the implants biodegrade into the body while being replaced by healthy endothelial cells. Importantly, this happens while the vessel is able to maintain its strength, slowly changing from an artificial implant into a real vessel made with the body’s endogenous cells.
The researchers tested the new vessels on laboratory rats, implanting them and checking up on them six months later. In the study published in journal Acta Biomaterialia, the researchers showed that the new vascular prostheses did not lead to any aneurysms, thromboses, or inflammation. The researchers did note that natural tissue took over much faster than expected, pointing to the need for the vessels to have a faster degradation time, a project already in the works.
Study in Acta Biomaterialia: Biodegradable, thermoplastic polyurethane grafts for small diameter vascular replacements…
More from Medical University of Vienna…