Division of Engineering in Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02139, USA.
School of Mechanical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, 14588-89694, Iran.
Adv Healthc Mater. 2018 Dec;7(24):e1800702. doi: 10.1002/adhm.201800702. Epub 2018 Oct 30.
Microvascular anastomosis is a common part of many reconstructive and transplant surgical procedures. While venous anastomosis can be achieved using microvascular anastomotic coupling devices, surgical suturing is the main method for arterial anastomosis. Suture-based microanastomosis is time-consuming and challenging. Here, dissolvable sugar-based stents are fabricated as an assistive tool for facilitating surgical anastomosis. The nonbrittle sugar-based stent holds the vessels together during the procedure and are dissolved upon the restoration of the blood flow. The incorporation of sodium citrate minimizes the chance of thrombosis. The dissolution rate and the mechanical properties of the sugar-based stent can be tailored between 4 and 8 min. To enable the fabrication of stents with desirable geometries and dimensions, 3D printing is utilized to fabricate the stents. The effectiveness of the printed sugar-based stent is assessed ex vivo. The fabrication procedure is fast and can be performed in the operating room.
微血管吻合是许多重建和移植手术的常见部分。虽然静脉吻合可以使用微血管吻合连接装置来实现，但缝合是动脉吻合的主要方法。基于缝合的微血管吻合耗时且具有挑战性。在这里，可溶解的基于糖的支架被制造为辅助工具，以促进手术吻合。在手术过程中，非脆性的基于糖的支架将血管固定在一起，并在血流恢复时溶解。加入柠檬酸钠可最大程度地减少血栓形成的机会。基于糖的支架的溶解速率和机械性能可以在 4 到 8 分钟之间进行调整。为了能够制造具有理想几何形状和尺寸的支架，使用 3D 打印来制造支架。体外评估了打印的基于糖的支架的有效性。制造过程快速，可在手术室中进行。
