November 22nd, 2004
Advances In Engineering Blood Vessels
Newswise reports on an advance in tissue engineered blood vessels (TEVs). Blood vessel development is currently a sticking point for the on-demand growth of replacement organs and other complex tissue. Scientists are making progress, however: "We have shown that fibrin-based vessels can be implanted in vivo, remain patent and support blood flow rates for 15 weeks. ... "It's not a stretch to extrapolate that these TEVs could remain functional in the long term because the animals presented no adverse effects .. the TEVs performed like native vessels 15 weeks after implantation ... exhibited excellent "remodeling," producing collagen and elastin, and had increased their mechanical strength by more than a factor of three."