Tissue‐Engineered Vascular Grafts: Emerging Trends and Technologies
Prerak Gupta, Biman B. Mandal
Abstract
Abstract Vascular tissue engineering has made prodigious progress in recent years by converging multidisciplinary approaches. Latest technological advancements foster the development of next‐generation tissue‐engineered vascular grafts (TEVGs) for treating various vasculopathies. While traditional therapeutic methods rely on bypassing the severely damaged vessels with synthetic counterparts with no growth potential, contemporary perspectives focus on biodegradable conduits bestowing an inherent remodeling capability. This review highlights emerging innovative trends and technologies adopted to pragmatically fulfill current scientific needs while improving overall TEVG performance in pre‐clinical and clinical settings. A comprehensive overview of various milestones achieved in the past few decades is first summarized, followed by an appraisal of the significant hurdles for clinical translation. The latest techniques to rationally address critical challenges, viz., intimal hyperplasia, thrombosis, constructive graft remodeling, and adequate neo‐tissue formation are discussed. Finally, an update on ongoing clinical trials is provided and future perspectives required to persuade TEVGs to become a clinical reality are delineated.