Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of morbidity and mortality in the western world. This may lead to arterial stenosis. When this occurs, the consequences range from gangrene, to stroke to myocardial infarction. At the moment, autologous saphenous veins are the treatment modality of choice in low blow flow vessels such as the coronary arteries. However, in many cases the saphenous vein is either unsuitable or unavailable (due to previous stripping). In such a setting, the need for an artificial prosthesis is vital. We propose to test in canines a compliant, microporous polyurethane bypass graft which has shown a low thrombogenicity profile, as well as high biocompatibility index in European clinical trials. The vascular graft will be fabricated from our patented biodurable polyurethane tradenamed ChronoFlex. The graft will feature autologous seeded endothelial cells transplanted into the graft by means of a novel electrostatic method which temporarily renders the graft luminal surface positive, thus attracting the endothelial cells, without the use of """"""""glues"""""""" such as fibronectin, collagen, etc.
A major market exists for the development of a compliant small vessel prosthesis. Currently, there are no clinically acceptable synthetic small vessel prosthesis. If such a prosthesis could be developed , the synthetic vascular graft market could grow to $750 million annually in the U.S.
