The internal elastic lamina (IEL) is an important structural component of the arterial wall and may play an important role in suppressing intimal hyperplasia. Rupture of the IEL occurring during atherosclerosis, surgery and angioplasty is irreparable and results in severe intimal hyperplasia in animal models. In order to reconstruct damaged arteries we sought to replace the IEL using an elastin-based biomaterial (EB) and a means to seal it within the artery. Native elastin fragments were dialyzed, solubilized, repolymerized and injection molded into sheets and tubes of compliant, smooth EB, 500µm in thickness. Indocyanine green (ICG) dye was painted on the surface of the EB to be bonded to the aortic wall. The EB was then implanted into porcine aortas using energy from an aluminum gallium arsenide diode laser at 808 nm at 0.85 W/cm2 for 2 seconds, targeted to the elastin-aorta interface with ICG. ICG absorption confined energy absorption and thermal bonding to a zone less than 100µm. Thermal injury to the EB and porcine aorta was not observed by scanning EM. Thermal bonding produced stable adherence to the aortic wall. These findings indicate the feasibility of deploying an elastin biomaterial to replace the internal elastic lamina as a means of reconstructing damaged arteries.
Gregory KW, Grunkemeier JM: Arterial reconstruction using an elastin-based biopolymer with dye targeted diode laser fusion. Lasers in Surgery and Medicine (Suppl.) 7:22, 1995.