Maintain pressure on reforms to protect NHSArtificial arteries could reduce amputations and heart attacks
A London hospital has announced a series of human trials of a revolutionary technique which aims to create an artificial artery using nanotechnology, potentially reducing the number of amputations and heart attacks every year in the UK.
The Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead has used nanotechnology to create a bypass graft from a polymer material which mimics the natural characteristics of human blood vessels.
Patients suffering from certain diseases, such as hardening of the arteries, are susceptible to further complications stemming from a weakening of the artery tissue.
However, the synthetic artery can imitate the natural pulsing of the body’s blood vessels which are designed to last a person’s lifetime.
Current treatment involves the replacement of damaged vessels with the patient’s own veins, or an artificial plastic graft.
The success of the trials would pave the way for new treatments for patients with vascular disease as well as heart attack victims.
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