Prospects for microtechnology and nanotechnology in bioengineering of replacement microvessels

Context. - Due to its anticipated curative potential, therapeutic angiogenesis recently became a major preoccupation for the biomedical research community. Most of the related work reported to date employs either biochemical or genetic tools. Objective. - To identify opportunities for application of the current developments in microtechnology and nanotechnology to the field of therapeutic angiogenesis. Data Sources. - Survey of recent English-language literature on microvascular tissue engineering in the context of therapeutic angiogenesis. We include our results regarding the role played by microtopographical cues in the progression of angiogenesis, such as those produced during processing of the extracellular matrix by chronic inflammatory cells. Conclusion. - While notable accomplishments have been identified in the field of tissue engineering of larger vessels, reports on purposeful assembly of microvascular structures with the ability to be transferred in vivo by implantation are still scarce. Under these circumstances, we suggest the development of a new class of implantable biomedical microdevices, that is, "angiogenesis assist devices" (or "angiochips"), and we indicate some of their conceivable applications.