For thousands of heart patients awaiting bypass surgery in India, the textile technology department of IIT Delhi may soon have some help to offer.

The department has started researching a biodegradable process of engineering blood vessels that will no longer require transplantation of the saphenous vein from the patient’s thigh.

The process is the latest in a series of innovative implementations in the field of biotextiles. The department has already patented a biodegradable knitting developed in the laboratory in 2002. ‘‘This knitting forms the base for cells from the patient’s body that can be used to replace a damaged part. Within a few months, the biodegradable knitting is expunged by the body leaving behind a healthy body part,’’ says Prof Bhuvanesh Gupta who is heading the research.

The IIT’s collaborators include a team headed by Prof D. Letourneur of

ISERM in Paris and another one headed by Dr K K Talwar, director of the cardiology department at PGI Chandigarh.

These knittings are first made bio-receptive by a process of ‘‘plasma functionalisation’’ which allows protein molecules to be anchored onto the knitting.

Once the knitting is ready, healthy cells can be deposited on either side of the knitted scaffold (engineered textile material). ‘‘While engineering urinary bladder tissue, we deposited urothelial and smooth muscle cells taken from the patient’s body on either side of the scaffold.’’

The body part can then be suitably transplanted to the appropriate organ. The department developed the technique for replacing damaged tissues of the urinary bladder in collaboration with a team headed by Prof J. Hilborn of the University of Uppsala, Sweden.

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