For 100 years, the process of vascular anastomosis has largely been the same. Surgeons take a needle and thread and delicately suture together the walls of the blood vessel. Though literally sewing together blood vessels is a widely utilized surgical procedure, it isn’t without its issues. Intimal hyperplasia, a cell response to the trauma of the needle and thread, causes blood vessels to narrow which increases the risk of a blood clot or localized turbulence. Sutures may trigger an immune response that causes dangerous inflammation. Moreover, suturing becomes extremely challenging on blood vessels that are less than one millimeter in diameter
