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Updated: Oct 3, 2025
Tissue Engineering by Intrinsic Vascularization in an In Vivo Tissue Engineering Chamber
Published on: May 30, 2016
Current Progress in Vascular Engineering and Its Clinical Applications
Hatem Jouda1, Luis Larrea Murillo2, Tao Wang2
1Manchester Medical School, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
Insights
Tissue engineered vascular grafts (TEVGs) offer alternatives for coronary heart disease treatment when autologous vessels are unavailable. Challenges remain in creating clinical-grade, small-diameter TEVGs with long-term patency and biocompatibility.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Regenerative Medicine
- Cardiovascular Surgery
Background:
- Coronary heart disease (CHD) involves atherosclerosis-induced coronary artery narrowing.
- Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) treats severe CHD, but autologous vessels are not always sufficient.
- Tissue engineered vascular grafts (TEVGs) are needed as alternatives, especially for small-diameter conduits (<6 mm).
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the current status and challenges of tissue engineered vascular grafts (TEVGs) for clinical applications.
- To highlight advancements in materials and cell sources for vascular tissue engineering.
- To discuss factors influencing TEVG biocompatibility and long-term patency.
Main Methods:
- Review of current literature on TEVG development and clinical applications.
- Analysis of scaffold properties (tensile strength, thrombogenicity, immunogenicity) and cell sources (mesenchymal stem cells, iPSCs).
- Discussion of advanced material combinations (natural and synthetic) for TEVG fabrication.
Main Results:
- Producing clinical-grade, small-diameter TEVGs with long-term patency remains a significant challenge.
- Scaffold properties and cell source availability are critical limitations for TEVG production and function.
- No TEVGs are currently commercially available due to these production and performance hurdles.
Conclusions:
- Advanced technologies, including hybrid scaffolds and stem cell sources like iPSCs, show promise for vascular tissue engineering.
- Addressing challenges in scaffold biocompatibility and cell sourcing is crucial for successful TEVG development.
- Further research and development are needed to enable clinical translation of TEVGs for CHD treatment.
Abstract:
Coronary heart disease (CHD) is caused by narrowing or blockage of coronary arteries due to atherosclerosis. Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is widely used for the treatment of severe CHD cases. Although autologous vessels are a preferred choice, healthy autologous vessels are not always available; hence there is a demand for tissue engineered vascular grafts (TEVGs) to be used as alternatives. However, producing clinical grade implantable TEVGs that could healthily survive in the host with long-term patency is still a great challenge. There are additional difficulties in producing small diameter (<6 mm) vascular conduits. As a result, there have not been TEVGs that are commercially available. Properties of vascular scaffolds such as tensile strength, thrombogenicity and immunogenicity are key factors that determine the biocompatibility of TEVGs. The source of vascular cells employed to produce TEVGs is a limiting factor for large-scale productions. Advanced technologies including the combined use of natural and biodegradable synthetic materials for scaffolds in conjunction with the use of mesenchyme stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) provide promising solutions for vascular tissue engineering. The aim of this review is to provide an update on various aspects in this field and the current status of TEVG clinical applications.
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