Researchers from Harvard University have succeeded in developing nanoscale electronic scaffolds into which heart cells can be integrated in order to create a "bionic" patch for the heart. After being implanted, the bionic patch functions similarly to a pacemaker - it emits electrical waves to correct heart rhythm disorders, and even more so
![Nanoscale electronic scaffolds into which cardiac cells can be integrated to create cardiac patches in June. The photo shows the nanoelectronic scaffold (in gold) along with recording devices (in purple) and the stimulator (in green) and heart tissue (in red) [Courtesy of Lieber Group/Harvard University]](https://www.hayadan.org.il/images/content3/2016/08/Nanoelectronic6051-500x333.jpg)
[Translation by Dr. Nachmani Moshe]
Scientists and doctors have been able to achieve considerable progress in recent decades in the field of treatment of cardiac problems - especially in light of the development in recent years of the technology known as "cardiac patches", collections of engineered heart cells capable of replacing heart muscles damaged following heart attacks. In an article published a long time ago in the scientific journal Nature Nanotechnology, researchers report on the construction of nanoscale electronic scaffolds into which cardiac cells can be integrated to create "bionic" heart patches.
"I think the biggest impact will, ultimately, be in the areas of replacing damaged heart tissue with a pre-prepared tissue patch," says the lead researcher. "Instead of simply implanting an engineered patch based on a tolerant scaffold, our research suggests that in the future it will be possible to surgically implant a flexible patch that we can precisely adjust to improve its performance." "Within this study, we were able to show that the frequency and directionality of a progressive signal can be changed," explains the lead researcher. "We believe that our invention will be very important for the treatment of heart rhythm disorders and other cardiac diseases." Unlike normal pacemakers, explains the lead researcher, the bionic patch - given the fact that its electronic components are integrated within the tissue itself - can detect heart rhythm disturbances at a much earlier stage, and operate at much lower electrical voltages.
"Even before the person begins to experience a serious heart arrhythmia that often causes irreversible damage or other heart problems, our device will be able to detect initial instability and intervene at an earlier stage," explains the researcher. "The device will also be able to continuously monitor the feedback received back from the tissue and its activity." The patch could also be used as a means of monitoring the body's reactions when exposed to heart drugs, or help pharmaceutical companies find the most effective drugs that are in the development phase. In addition, the patch will also be able to provide important information about the heart tissue during several developmental processes, for example - old age, ischemia (damage to the blood supply to the organ) or differentiation of stem cells into mature cardiac cells.
Despite the fact that the cardiac patch has not yet been implanted in BH, "We are interested in finding research partners who are already investigating the issue of cardiac patch implantation for the treatment of myocardial infarction in a rodent model," says the lead researcher. "I don't think we will have a problem integrating our device into a simple and easy system for implantation." In the long term, the researcher believes, the development of nanoscale tissue scaffolds represents an innovative paradigm for the integration of biological components with electronic components into a single system. The researcher claims that thanks to advanced systems of injecting electronic components it will even be possible to inject similar heart patches simply and easily. "It is very possible that in the future the method will not be carried out as part of a surgical patch at all, but that we will simply perform a double injection of the cells and the scaffolds, and these will organize together spontaneously inside the body, so that the whole procedure will be much less invasive than transplant surgery."
Article Summary
Nanoscale electronic scaffolds into which cardiac cells can be integrated to create cardiac patches in June. The photo shows the nanoelectronic scaffold (in gold) along with recording devices (in purple) and the stimulator (in green) and heart tissue (in red) [Courtesy of Lieber Group/Harvard University]
