In recent years, DidarLab collaborated with the Thrombosis and Atherosclerosis Research Institute (TaARI) to create a novel and highly promising platform to improve the success of vascular grafts. This revolutionary idea was an engineered non-stick surface combined with biological components that can repel all but a targeted group of cells — those that form the natural lining of the body’s veins and arteries. The non-stick material prevents proteins and cells from sticking to the inner walls of blood vessels, where they can build into menacing blood clots.
Now, our team has created a device to test this non-stick innovation and future technologies. The tiny tool — which we call a graft on a chip — closely replicates short sections of human blood vessels, allowing researchers to create variable flow conditions which are very close to those found in the body, while making it possible to watch what is happening as it occurs.
