Up till now the patients own body has provided the spare parts with arteries from limbs being used... but soon this may not be necessary.

It's usually a build-up of cholesterol and fatty deposits that causes cardiac disease. And if peripheral vascular disease has set in, taking an artery from a patient's limb, will not always be possible.

Scientists from CSIRO and Bionova are creating an artificial artery for use in the human body. It is a composite of natural collagen and synthetic polymer mesh. The mesh acts as a reinforcement for the natural collagen so that this replacement artery has the strength and durability required for the demanding job of keeping a heart pumping. But the body has a natural disposition to reject anything foreign.

Fortunately for humans the natural collagen that sheep manufacture is compatible with the human body. So the lengths of mesh are placed just under the sheep's skin for it to become coated with the animals collagen.

This bio synthetic composite material is further processed by Bionova so that it becomes compatible with human tissue and cells.

"Over the last 10 years, extensive testing of a variety of physical and mechanical properties in the laboratory and clinical studies, has enabled the development of a vessel that closely matches the natural elasticity of a blood vessel."

This technique has already been used successfully in operations on damaged limb arteries, and scientists hope that soon it will also be a life saver in cardiac surgery.