History, progress and future challenges of artificial blood vessels: a narrative review

Ke Hu, Yuxuan Li, Zunxiang Ke, Hongjun Yang, Chanjun Lu, Yiqing Li, Yi Guo, Weici Wang

Table 6 Commercially-available artificial blood vessels in clinical use.

Company Product name Material Details and modification Indications for use Atrium Medical Corporation Flixene IFG Vascular graft ePTFE Very strong and durable with three layers Arterial vascular reconstruction/segmental bypass/arteriovenous vascular access Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc. VenafloTM II Vascular graft ePTFE Cuffed to promote good hemodynamic performance Subcutaneous arteriovenous conduits for blood access only Edwards Life Sciences Edwards Lifespan reinforced expanded PTFE vascular graft ePTFE Higher crush and kink resistance Bypass or reconstruction of diseased or occluded blood vessels/arteriovenous shunts Maquet Cardiovascular, LLC FUSION Vascular Graft ePTFE Two layers fused with a proprietary polycarbonate-urethane adhesive Peripheral artery repair or replacement/vascular access FUSIONTM and FUSIONTM Bioline Vascular Grafts ePTFE and PET Two layers with heparin/albumin coating on the interior surface Peripheral artery repair or replacement EXXCELTM Soft ePTFE Vascular Grafts ePTFE featuring a GUIDELINE® stripe to facilitate proper graft alignment. Peripheral arteries (iliac, femoral, popliteal, infrageniculate vessels, axillary, renal) repair or replacement/vascular access InterVascular SAS InterGard Heparin PET Heparin bonded collagen coating Peripheral artery replacement PECA Labs, Inc. ExGraft and ExGraft Carbon EPTFE Vascular Graft ePTFE A radiopaque ink applied to the surface and the exGraft Carbon ePTFE vascular graft coating with carbon Peripheral artery repair or replacement/dialysis access Vascular Flow Technologies Ltd. Spiral FlowTM Peripheral Vascular Graft ePTFE Propagating spiral flow through the graft and into the distal circulation, reinforced Bypass or reconstruction of occluded or diseased peripheral arterial blood vessels above or below the knee Vascutek Ltd. Vascutek Gelsoft Plus ERS Vascular Graft PET External polypropylene support, gelatine-sealed, knitted polyester grafts Indicated for extra anatomical vascular repair, primarily for axillo-femoral/bi-femoral bypass and femoropopliteal reconstruction Vascutek GelsealTM Vascular Grafts PET Knitted, gelatine impregnated Indicated for replacement or bypass of abdominal arteries afflicted with aneurysmal or occlusive disease Vascutek GelsoftTM Vascular Grafts PET Knitted, gelatine impregnated, zero porosity Indicated for abdominal and peripheral vascular repair Vascutek GelsoftTM Plus Vascular Grafts PET Knitted, gelatine impregnated, dilation resistant Indicated exclusively for abdominal and peripheral vascular repair W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. Gore-Tex ePTFE Unmodified Vascular access Gore-Tex Stretch ePTFE Stretch Gore Propaten ePTFE Reduced thrombogenicity through covalently binding to bioactive heparin