New heart patch may reduce muscle damage after heart attack

Apr 20, 2019

New Delhi, Apr 20 (ANI): Scientists have designed an adhesive patch that can be placed on the heart and could reduce the stretching of the heart muscle which is often followed by a heart attack. According to the research, published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, biochemical markers showed that the patch reduced cell death, scar tissue accumulation and oxidative stress in tissue damaged by a heart attack. The patch, made from water-based hydrogel material, was developed using computer simulations of heart function in order to fine-tune the material's mechanical properties. A study in rats showed that the patch was effective in preventing left ventricle remodelling- a stretching of the heart muscle that is common after a heart attack and can reduce the function of the heart's main pumping chamber. The research also showed that the computer-optimised patch outperformed patches whose mechanical properties had been selected on an ad-hoc basis. Prior research had shown that mechanical patches could be effective, the researchers said, but no one had done any research on what the optimum mechanical properties of such a patch might be. As a result, the thickness and stiffness of potential patches vary widely. And getting those properties right is important, Gao said. To develop these principles, the researchers developed a computer model of a beating heart, which captured the mechanical dynamics of both the heart and the patch when fixed to the heart's exterior. Yue Liu, who led the modelling work, said the model had two key components. With these properties in hand, Yang, a researcher and his team developed a hydrogel material made from food-sourced starch that could match the properties from the model. The key to the material is its viscoelasticity, meaning it combines fluid and solid properties. It has fluid properties up to a certain amount of stress, at which it solidifies and becomes stiffer. That makes the material ideal for both accommodating the movement of the heart and for providing the necessary support, the researchers said. The material is also cheap (a patch costs less than a penny, the researchers said) and easy to make, and experiments showed that it was nontoxic. The rodent study ultimately showed that it was effective in reducing post-heart attack damage.