Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2019 Nov 6.
Published in final edited form as: Circulation. 2018 Nov 6;138(19):2130–2144. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.118.035231

Figure 2.

Figure 2.

(A) The engineered vascular conduit (EVC) is connected to a perfusion system consisting of a peristalsis pump, a media reservoir, two 22.5 G needles, and connection tubing. (B) The experimental timeline is illustrated. Immediately after construction of the EVC, burst pressure, flow dynamics, and histology were assessed. The EVC was perfused with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) for 1 day and subsequently with smooth muscle growth media (SMGM) for 13 days. Upon completion of the in vitro perfusion/maturation period, burst pressure, flow dynamics, histology, and vasoreactivity were assessed. The mature EVC was implanted as a femoral artery interposition graft in a rat model. Four weeks later, EVC histology was again analyzed. Finally, 8 weeks after implantation, the EVC was explanted and burst pressure, flow dynamics, histology, and vasoreactivity were analyzed.