Yasmin Farhatnia

UCL · Surgery

Improving patency rates of current cardiovascular implants remains a major challenge. It is widely accepted that regeneration of a healthy endothelium layer on biomaterials could yield the perfect blood-contacting surface. Earlier efforts in pre-seeding endothelial cells in vitro demonstrated success in enhancing patency, but translation to the cli...

Background: The physio-chemical properties of blood contacting biomaterials play an important role in determining their hemocompatibility. It is shown in literature that surface roughness and porosity have significant effect on hemocompatibility. In this study, we use a biocompatible, low thrombogenic nanocomposite polymer called POSS-PCU to test...

Covered stents are stents wrapped with a thin polymeric membrane, and are typically used to treat vessel aneurysms and seal perforated arteries. Current covered stents suffer from restenosis due to limitations in material and fabrication methods which leaves metallic struts directly exposed to blood. We have developed a biocompatible and haemocompa...

The patency of synthetic cardiovascular grafts in the long run is synonymous with their ability to inhibit the processes of intimal hyperplasia, thrombosis and calcification. In the human body, the endothelium of blood vessels exhibits characteristics that inhibit such processes. As such it is not surprising that research in tissue engineering is d...

Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases such as coronary heart disease often necessitate the surgical repair using conduits. Although autografts still remain the gold standard, the inconvenience of harvesting and/or insufficient availability in patients with atherosclerotic disease has given impetus to look into alternative sources for vascular graf...

Stroke or cerebral vascular accidents is among the leading causes of death in the world. With the availability of Digital Subtraction Angiography, transluminal angioplasty has become feasible in many situations and the role of intracranial stents is becoming ever more important in the management of cerebral vascular diseases. In current review, we...

Background Exosomes are small biological membrane vesicles that measure 30 to 100 nm in diameter. They are involved in a wide array of biological activities, such as cell-cell communication, signal transduction, transport of genetic materials, and modulation of immune response. Evidence indicates that they can be used as not only therapeutic agents...

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is one of the most commonly performed invasive medical procedures in medicine today. Since the first coronary balloon angioplasty in 1977, interventional cardiology has seen a wide array of developments in PCI. Bare metal stents (BMS) were soon superseded by the revolutionary drug-eluting stents (DES), which...

Bare-metal stents (BMS) and drug-eluting stents (DES) are the two main categories of FDA-approved coronary stents in the market for treating atherosclerosis. Problems associated with BMS include in-stent restenosis due to intimal hyperplasia, leading to stent failure, while DES harbours a life-threatening complication called late-stent thrombosis d...

An unmet need exists for the development of next-generation multifunctional nanocomposite materials for biomedical applications, particularly in the field of cardiovascular regenerative biology. Herein, we describe the preparation and characterization of a novel polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane poly(carbonate-urea) urethane (POSS-PCU) nanocompo...

In situ endothelialization of cardiovascular implants has emerged in recent years as an attractive means of targeting the persistent problems of thrombosis and intimal hyperplasia. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of immobilizing anti-CD34 antibodies onto a POSS-PCU nanocomposite polymer surface to sequester endothelial progenitor cells...

Cardiovascular disease is one of the major causes of death in the world. Coronary stenting in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has revolutionized the field of cardiology. Coronary stenting is seen as a less invasive procedure compared to coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Two main types of stents currently exist in the market: bar...

The field of nanotechnology and regenerative medicine has been progressing at a rapid pace. From theranostic nanoparticles to biomaterials, the possibilities seem endless. Researchers at the University College London have developed and patented a technology to manufacture a new breed of novel nanocomposite material called polyhedral oligomeric sils...