SBIR Phase I: Novel advanced manufacturing technique for artificial blood vessels

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的更广泛影响是改善需要自体血管移植或来自同一患者的血管移植的患者的临床护理。在美国，每年有140万患者需要动脉置换。搭桥手术和重建手术通常涉及用从身体另一部分取出的动脉或静脉移植物来替换病变或受损的血管。这些手术是侵入性的，而且很危险。此外，在某些适应症下使用自体移植物重建分支血管(例如，手部重建手术或游离皮瓣手术)会延长手术时间，并可能增加术后并发症的风险。这项拟议的技术允许创建可用作嫁接的工程系统。此外，它们可以用于心血管设备的临床前测试，限制了与动物研究相关的需求(和成本)，以及潜在的其他系统，如肺和气管。该项目推进了一种制造遵循天然血管复杂几何形状和特征的系统的过程。目前制造人造血管移植物的实践仅限于具有非最佳机械/结构性能的简单形状或系统。该项目开发了一种新的方法，通过3D打印、牺牲收集器的创建和静电纺丝来创建复杂几何形状的纳米纤维血管。第一个目标是使用牺牲性收集器开发不同几何形状(圆柱形、分叉形和三叉形)和直径的纳米纤维血管支架，并评估血管的微观结构和机械特性。第二个目标是通过测试内皮细胞和平滑肌细胞的活性、黏附和增殖来评估纳米纤维血管的生物相容性。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to improve clinical care for patients requiring blood vessel grafts that are autologous, or come from the same patient. In the United States,1.4 million patients need arterial replacements each year. Bypass graft surgeries and reconstructive surgeries often involve the replacement of diseased or damaged blood vessels with a graft of an artery or vein taken from another part of the body. These procedures are invasive and dangerous. In addition, using autologous grafts to reconstruct branched vessels in certain indications (e.g., in hand reconstruction surgeries or free-flap procedures) prolongs the surgery and may increase the risk of post-operative complications. The proposed technology allows for creation of engineered systems that can be used as grafts. More over, they can be used for pre-clinical testing of cardiovascular devices, limiting the need (and costs) associated with animal studies, as well as potentially other systems, such as the lung and trachea.This project advances a process to manufacture a system that follows the complex geometries and characteristics of native blood vessels. Current practice to create artificial blood vessel grafts is limited to simple shapes or systems with non-optimal mechanical/structural properties. This project develops a new method for creation of nanofibrous vessels with complex geometries via 3D printing, creation of sacrificial collectors, and electrospinning. The first objective will be to develop nanofibrous vessel scaffolds with different geometries (cylindrical, bifurcated, and trifurcated) and diameters using sacrificial collectors and evaluate microstructural and mechanical characteristics of the vessels. The second objective will be to evaluate biocompatibility of the nanofibrous vessels by testing the viability, adhesion, and proliferation of endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.