G·A·B·B·A

Huge amounts of blood contacting devices (BCD) are used daily for the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Nevertheless, there is still a clear lack of BCD to proceed the replacement of small diameter vessels (i.d. <6 mm), making it urgent to develop new hemo/biocompatible and antimicrobial biomaterials. Several biomaterials are described in the literature as hemo/biocompatible, but lack the required mechanical properties for the fabrication of vascular grafts. Thus, the aim of this PhD project will be to improve the mechanical properties of such materials in order to allow their application in the design of small-diameter vascular grafts. To achieve this purpose graphene base materials (GBMs) will be incorporated in different biomaterials with promising properties for blood contact. Two different approaches will be used, namely the GBMs incorporation in polymeric materials and in decellularized matrix of blood vessels. The developed biomaterials with the most promising features will be evaluated in an animal model.