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B-ROLL Pulsating culture system with growing blood vessels

B-ROLL Angiogram showing blood flowing through an artery

B-ROLL Women running

B-ROLL Older person in hospital bed

SOT/FULL Laura Niklason, MD

B-ROLL Rack focus through window of dialysis center revealing patient on dialysis machine

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At the heart of the technology is a device that subjects the growing arteries to the pumping forces exerted by the human heart. This is designed to create tissue engineered arteries that distend and relax with each heart beat, just as arteries in our bodies do. Formidable hurdles remain including shortening the 8 to 10 week growing time, making the vessels consistently strong enough to withstand life's forces, and find a way to make cells taken from older blood vessels grow better than current technology allows.

"I every day encounter patients who are desperately in need of replacement arteries for their heart or for their limb. Every day I have an incredible sense of urgency that we need to solve this problem quickly and help the patients who are in front of me every day of the week."

Dr. Niklason says human tests could begin in 5 to 10 years and that tissue engineered blood vessels could be a part of medical care in 10 to 20 years. I'm Dr. Barry Kaufman reporting.

SUGGESTED ANCHOR TAG: Dr. Niklason says one day it may be possible to take blood vessels cells from a young person, freeze and store them for decades, and then thaw and grow replacement blood vessels later in life. Even though the person has aged, the new blood vessels would be young. ALT TAG: Since the cells will be taken from the patientâs own blood vessels, Dr. Niklason believes this technology avoids some of the ethical and moral controversies surrounding other emerging technologies.