Objective To review the progress of the robotic applications in vascular surgery. Methods Recent literature about the robotic applications in vascular surgery was reviewed and analyzed. Results Robotic system is composed of surgery robotic system and endovascular interventional robotic system. The time of aortic clamping and anastomosis is reduced considerably during the robotic-assisted aorta bypass surgery, and the dissection of aorta is completed successfully in totally robotic approach. Endovascular interventional robotic system has good performance in navigation and stability, and shows apparent advantages in passing special anatomical segment and complicated lesion. However, the robotic systems are still limited in application for high cost. The problem of tactile feedback should also be solved quickly. Conclusion Robotic systems have apparent advantages and good prospect in vascular surgery. Nevertheless, it still require many clinical trials to formulate the indication and contraindication, to establish standard procedure, to assess the long-term effectiveness of the robotic systems and so on.
Objective To review the strategies on repairing elastic fibers in aorta. Methods Literature concerningelastic fiber as well as its repairment was consulted and summarized from three aspects: enhancement of the expressions ofits components, improvement of the condition of its assembly, and reduction of the destructive effects. Results Elastinis concerned as the main protein to be enhanced with three different methods including gene transfection, stimulationwith ectogenesis factors, and induction of phenotype transition of smooth muscle cell. Fibul in and lysyl oxidases show theabil ity to improve the assembly of the elastic fiber, while the related mechanisms are not clear. Matrix metalloproteinasesare regarded as the main destructive factors, and researches focus on reducing their expression as well as their destructiveeffects. Conclusion To assure a high-qual ity repair of elastic fibers in aorta, their components should be sufficientlyexpressed and effectively assemblyed, and the destructive effects caused by dangerous factors should also be reduced.