The long-term performance of medical implant devices, like heart valves and cardiac stents, could be enhanced substantially by new bio-coating technology recently licensed to University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) spin-off company Endomimetics LLC.
The patent-pending technology is a coating for implants, called bio-nanomatrix, made with a bio-engineered nanomaterial that mimics natural endothelium, the substance that lines blood vessels. This biocompatibility — the ability to promote the body’s acceptance of a implant device — can help prevent post-operative tissue scarring that sometimes leads to thrombosis, or blood-flow blockage, among the reported 10 million people who receive implants annually, at a high human and financial cost.
The bio-nanomatrix is the only such coating of its kind, though some similar products are in the development pipeline. The bio-nanomaterial, developed with UAB medical and engineering researchers, has been licensed by the UAB Research Foundation — the university’s commercialization office — to Endomimetics LLC. The company was founded by the coating’s inventors: UAB biomedical engineering professor Ho-Wook Jun and medical professor Brigitta Brott.
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