Stem cells for tissue engineered vascular bypass grafts.
Despite great advances in tissue engineering, there have been very few reports on the successful clinical use of small-diameter tissue-engineered vascular grafts (TEVGs). Small-diameter (<6 mm internal diameter) is considered as unmet clinical need. This review critically examines the role of stem cells that have been proposed and used in development of TEVGs, and assesses the viability of such graft to clinical pathway. With over 20 years of expertise in development of bypass graft and a number of grafts under clinical trial, this team will offer potential areas for future research that may help improve the current state-of-the-art technology.
a Department of Biomedical Engineering , Amirkabir University of Technology , Tehran , Iran.
Forough
F
Askari
a Department of Biomedical Engineering , Amirkabir University of Technology , Tehran , Iran.
Atefeh
A
Solouk
a Department of Biomedical Engineering , Amirkabir University of Technology , Tehran , Iran.
Mehdi
M
Shafieian
b Centre for Nanotechnology and Regenerative Medicine, University College London , London , UK.|c Royal Free Hampstead National Health Service Trust Hospital , London , UK.
Alexander M
AM
Seifalian
D000818:Animals; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002460:Cell Line; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000378:metabolism; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds
Artery; blood vessels; scaffold; stem cells; tissue engineering; vascular bypass grafts