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.
