ABSTRACT
The increase in degenerative pathologies as a result of the life expectancy of the population, new diagnostic methods and clinically successful non-invasive procedures to treat these diseases using stent-grafts has opened a new and promising future in the medical field. UNIFESP and a Medical Product Manufacturer (Braile Biomédica) joined efforts and started a project to develop stent-grafts and delivery systems to repair thoracic and abdominal aortic diseases. Initially, the stent graft was developed with a transthoracic delivery system, to repair dissections and aneurysms of the descending thoracic artery with direct visualization and extracorporeal circulation, hypothermia and circulatory arrest. Each stent module was manufactured with stainless steel wire, threaded by a multifilament polyester thread for the final insertion in the polyester graft of the endoprosthesis. On a second step, the transfemoral delivery system was developed to perform minimally invasive procedures under fluoroscopic and/or transesophageal echocardiographic control to repair descending thoracic and abdominal aortic diseases. A new generation of stent-grafts and delivery systems are under investigation based on the stimulating results of this first generation of devices for clinical use.