Project Description Narrative:
Vascular diseases, such as cerebrovascular disease, coronary heart disease, aneurysm, deep vein thrombosis, and peripheral arterial disease, are among the leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. With the development of devices and surgical techniques, intravascular stents have been developed and proven to be a promising strategy to restore acute blood flow and support the occluded vessel segments.
Despite the utility of stents, acute occlusion due to thrombosis and the persistent occurrence of restenosis are the most common reasons that the stents fail to provide long-term vessel patency. Surgery is another option to restore blood supply by replacing or bypassing the damaged blood vessel with a functional vascular substitute, especially for patients with severe vascular conditions. Several types of synthetic polymers, such as dacron, polytetrafluoroethylene, and polyethylene terephthalate have been fabricated into large conduits [internal diameter (ID) > 6mm)], and some have been successfully applied in clinics with long-term patency. However, clinical trials with small blood vessels (ID ≤ 6mm) are often disappointing. Slower blood flow and higher resistance in small vessels may lead to rapid thrombosis, intimal hyperplasia, stenosis, occlusion, and infection.
This project will develop a biomimetic, small-diameter, decellularized amniotic membrane-based vascular graft (DAM graft) prosthesis as a potential solution for human replacement or bypassing vascular surgeries. The intended impact of this project will be to develop a readily available, off-the-shelf alternative small vascular graft to autologous blood vessels with characteristics similar in terms of immunogenicity and functionality, while eliminating the wound care and an additional operation associated with autologous graft harvesting.