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Lab-grown blood vessels closer to human trials

Artificial blood vessels are not new to the medical field. What is though is a non-synthetic non-plastic version of an artificial blood vessel that a research team at the University of Minnesota has been developing.

MINNEAPOLIS - Artificial blood vessels are not new to the medical field. What is though is a non-synthetic non-plastic version of an artificial blood vessel that a research team at the University of Minnesota has been developing.

"We have enough evidence that this can work in a patient without posing an adverse risk. That is a big milestone for us to get into a clinic," said Professor Bob Tranquillo, the department head of Biomedical Engineering at the U of M.

He says during the past 25 years, the research and material have been in development

"So what makes our material different is the ability for it to become cellularized from the patient’s own cells and become a living tissue so it can heal."

The artificial vessels Tranquillo says has the ability to help patients going through dialysis or children with heart conditions and damaged vessels.

“It’s of particular excitement for us because, for the first time, the material has been shown to grow and could provide a real solution for kids who have heart defects and who have multiple open heart surgeries.”

The team believes they have enough proof from the animal studies they performed and research that the FDA could give them approval for clinical trials in humans. Learn more here.

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