The technique worked. To our knowledge, this is the first use of such implants to control blood vessel disease. The work demonstrates that the release of a full set of compounds from intact endothelial cells is far superior than the release of a single cell product given as a drug. This work was done with Aruna Nathan, while she was a postdoctoral fellow at M.I.T., and Professor Matthew Nugent of the Boston University School of Medicine. Tests on pigs will come next.
Some problems remain, however, before the bioengineered bandages can be implanted in humans.
Also, some arteries, particularly small ones in the heart, are difficult to dig out surgically and surround with implants. However, these unresolved questions have not deterred him and others from working on other aspects of tissue engineering. Degeneration of brain cells leads to the failures of muscle control that is characteristic of Parkinson's. The hope is that replacement cells can be embedded in a biodegradable plastic and placed in the brain. Experiments with animals indicate that such implants stay in place when simply laid in position.