SILKELASTOGRAFT aims at capitalizing the know how developed by the different research units proposing the project on hybrid material design and in particular on the modulation of the biological and mechanical properties of these materials, by:
1. Verifying the hypothesis that graft-vessel compliance-matching improves the grafts’ performances in terms of formation of neointimal hyperplasia and platelet activation.
2. Developing a novel, simple and repeatable protocol to assess diameter and compliance of relevant vessels in human candidates for grafting, that could be used to build a reference table to guide graft choice in a patient-specific scenario.
3. Industrializing and validating human-sized compliance-calibrated vascular grafts for use as hemodialysis vascular accesses, paving the way for future Phase 1 clinical trials.