New blood vessels regenerated from a person’s stem cells have great promise, but when a patient needs a replaced blood vessel in the heart immediately, it has to come from elsewhere in the body. Research at the Medical University of Vienna suggests, however, that arteries and veins could be fabricated from thermoplastic polyurethane thread and spun into tubes. The researchers claim: ““We did not find any aneurysms, thromboses or inflammation [from these artificial vessels]. Endogenous cells had colonized the vascular prostheses and turned the artificial constructs into natural body tissue.”   MORE