The present disclosure relates to methods of preparing personalized blood vessels, useful for transplantation with improved host compatibility and reduced susceptibility to thrombosis. Also provided are personalized blood vessels produced by the methods and use thereof in surgery.

An apparatus for harvesting a subcutaneous blood vessel is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a guidewire with an angled tip, an intra-vascular catheter to receive the guidewire and having a lateral orifice to allow the angled tip thereof to perforate the subcutaneous blood vessel. The apparatus further comprises a flexible pulling device having a pair of circumferential grooves, one adjacent to each end thereof, to allow for securing the subcutaneous blood vessel thereat; and a flexible pushing device having a concave-cup shape at a distal end thereof to facilitate pushing of the subcutaneous blood vessel secured with one of the pair of circumferential grooves of the flexible pulling device. The flexible pulling device and the flexible pushing device are operable in conjunction to cause inversion and eversion and separation from the surrounding tissues of the subcutaneous blood vessel for removal and harvesting thereof.

A synthetic construct suitable for implantation into a biological organism that includes at least one polymer scaffold; wherein the at least one polymer scaffold includes at least one layer of polymer fibers that have been deposited by electrospinning; wherein the orientation of the fibers in the at least one polymer scaffold relative to one another is generally parallel, random, or both; and wherein the at least one polymer scaffold has been adapted to function as at least one of a substantially two-dimensional implantable structure and a substantially three-dimensional implantable tubular structure.

A sheet of biological tissue which includes on at least one side tapered edge portion thinning down in the thickness direction, towards an end thereof, a tubular structure obtained from the sheet, and an artificial blood vessel made up of the tubular structure are provided.

The disclosure provides various embodiments of prostheses and delivery systems to permit an interventional cardiologist to create shunts between various blood vessels. Moreover, the disclosed shunts can be used to shunt between various hollow organs, as set forth in the present disclosure.

An anti-fouling implantable material and a method of making the anti-fouling implantable material are disclosed. The anti-fouling implantable material includes a polymeric reinforcement layer, an intermediate layer comprising a protective polymer membrane, and an outer layer comprising an ionic polymer. The anti-fouling implantable material may have chemical and/or physical properties compatible with body tissue properties. The anti-fouling implantable material may be used for implantable medical devices, such as prosthetic heart valves and vascular grafts, among others.

A small diameter vascular prosthesis includes an outer textile graft, an intermediate self-supporting coil or stent and an inner microporous layer. The outer textile graft allows for tissue ingrowth. The inner microporous layer provides blood impermeability without preclotting the prosthesis. The coil or stent provides kink resistance and resistance again collapsing of the outer textile graft and the inner microporous layer.

A kappa-carrageenan (Kcar) granular hydrogel devoid of a cell-toxic crosslinking agent is provided as a scaffold for maintaining and implanting cellular structures such as lumens. The lumens may be defined by cells or surrounded by cells and may have the dimensions of a blood vessel.

Methods for generating aortic heart valve leaflets are disclosed wherein the aortic sinus surfaces (the inner surfaces of the sinuses of Valsalva) are used as a template to generate geometric representations of replacement aortic heart valve leaflets. As such, sinus-matched replacement leaflets can be sized and shaped according to the patient-specific geometry of the aortic root. Patient-specific aortic valve assemblies based on aortic root and sinus geometry are also described. Methods for estimating the coaptation area of a sinus-matched valve and assessing whether the valve is functionally competent for implantation are described.

It has been established that optimizing cell seeding onto tissue engineering vascular grafts (TEVG) is associated with reduced inflammatory responses and reduced post-operative stenosis of TEVG. Cell seeding increased TEVG patency in a dose dependent manner, and TEVG patency improved when more cells were seeded, however duration of incubation time showed minimal effect on TEVG patency. Methods of engineering patient specific TEVG including optimal numbers of cells to maintain graft patency and reduce post-operative stenosis are provided. Closed, single-use customizable systems for seeding TEVG are also provided. Preferably the systems are custom-designed based on morphology of the patient specific graft, to enhance the efficacy of cell seeding.