# Therapeutic Angioplasty Balloons for Treatment of Peripheral Artery Disease

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS ARLINGTON · 2020 · $14,028

## Abstract

Therapeutic angioplasty balloons for treatment of peripheral artery disease
 Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) results from narrowing of the peripheral arteries that supply oxygenated
blood and nutrients to the legs and feet has affected an increasingly large population, especially the elderly in
the United States. Current interventions using stents and drug-eluting stents have low clinical outcomes and
associated with several limitations, including impaired vascular healing and high rates of late thrombosis and
restenosis. So, in this work our objective is to develop novel therapeutic angioplasty balloons as an
alternative therapy to treat PAD. Angioplasty balloons are modified to locally deliver vascular endothelial
growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) loaded photoluminescent microscaffolds
(PLMs) that would reduce platelet interaction with injured blood vessel as well as support the capture and growth
of progenitor cells from circulation for faster endothelial regeneration. To reach our goal, three specific aims
are proposed: (1) synthesize and characterize multifunctional PLMs for their properties in vitro, (2) develop and
optimize coating techniques to formulate bFGF-PLM- and VEGF-eluting angioplasty balloons, and (3) determine
the effectiveness of multifunctional PLM- and VEGF-eluting angioplasty balloons to treat PAD in vivo. The main
aspects of our system are that it facilitates vascular healing through the unique strategy of (1) not permitting
immune cells, especially platelets, to engage with the injured arterial wall; (2) capturing progenitor cells in
circulation; and (3) supporting growth of host and progenitor cells as well as differentiation of progenitor cells to
endothelial cells. Furthermore, our strategy of using angioplasty balloons to deliver therapeutics while performing
endovascular intervention is also new as this “aim and shoot” strategy would provide both an immediate
treatment for PAD patients from balloon angioplasty and a prolonged therapeutic intervention to facilitate vessel
healing and growth in situ. If successful, results from this research project might bring a significant improvement
in the treatment of PAD and should generate high impacts in the vascular disease field.
 Under this fellowship program, I will focus my training efforts on four areas critical to my success with
future independent funding: (1) the development of in vivo model and understanding safe practices of vascular
interventions, (2) strengthen background in nanotechnology and treatment of atherosclerosis, (3) build a strong
analytical and technical skill set and (4) establish multi-disciplinary collaboration and relationship with clinical
scientists and researchers. The project proposed in this application and my team of sponsor and co-sponsor
will provide me with this focused, trans-disciplinary expertise. Furthermore, the University of Texas at Arlington
offer well-established Biomedical engineering program and have...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10112748
- **Project number:** 5F31HL146118-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS ARLINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Aneetta Elizabeth Kuriakose
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $14,028
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-07-01 → 2020-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10112748

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10112748, Therapeutic Angioplasty Balloons for Treatment of Peripheral Artery Disease (5F31HL146118-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10112748. Licensed CC0.

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