Abstract:

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the properties and development prospects of tissue engineering vascular stents.
METHODS: A computer search was performed for article published between January 1993 and October 2009, using “tissue engineering, tissue engineering blood vessels, stents” in Chinese as key words. Article about the biomaterials and tissue engineering blood vessels were included; duplicated research or Meta analysis articles were eliminated. The main focus of 26 articles was to discuss the type and properties of tissue engineering blood vessel materials.
RESULTS: The vascular acellular matrix can be used as an ideal stent material in vascular tissue engineering. Fibrin stents not only have ideal biocompatibility, biodegradability and high affinity, but also can promote angiogenesis and tissue repair. The gelatin is antigenicity-free, biocompatible and completely biodegradable, it can achieve its own vascularization, but the mechanical strength is low. Natural biomaterials and synthetic polymer materials have certain deficiencies, a matrix compounded the two materials with certain combinations can play their respective advantages and construct tissue engineered blood vessels with good performance. Nano-modification technology is expected to be applied to the next generation of tissue engineered vascular grafts.
CONCLUSION: In recent years the tissue engineered blood vessels rapidly develop, but so far there is no an ideal vascular stent. Natural biomaterials become a current research hotspot, but the physical and mechanical properties can not properly meet the requirements of the vascular stents, thus it is eager to emerge new materials which can better meet the requirements of the tissue engineered vascular stents, so as to achieve the purpose of repair and reconstruction.