Bioengineered hemodialysis access grafts.

There is a need for bioengineered therapies to improve the overall health of the growing and aging world population. Patients with renal failure have a life-long requirement for a durable form of hemodialysis vascular access. In this article, we review the history of tissue engineering as it pertains to bioengineered grafts and vessels for hemodialysis access. Over the years, various strategies have been utilized to develop ideal, humanized vessels for vascular replacement such as fixation of animal or human vessels, cell seeding of synthetic materials, and the synthesis of completely autologous or allogeneic bioengineered vessels. Tissue engineering technologies from two companies have progressed to reach phase 2 and phase 3 clinical trials, but the prospect of newer strategies on the horizon may offer improved manufacturing efficiency, a greater variety of conduit size and length, and reduce the cost to produce.