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6h ago

Programmable Heart Patch From MIT Improves Recovery After Heart Attack in Rats

A thin hydrogel implant delivers phase-specific drugs on a preset schedule to guide healing.

MIT engineers have developed a flexible drug-delivery patch that can be placed on the heart after a heart attack to help promote healing and regeneration of cardiac tissue. The patch is designed to carry several different drugs that can be released at different times, on a pre-programmed schedule.

Overview

  • The peer-reviewed study was published today in Cell Biomaterials with senior authors Ana Jaklenec and Robert Langer and lead author Erika Wang.
  • In rat models of myocardial infarction, the patch increased survival by 33%, cut damaged tissue by 50%, and improved cardiac output compared with no treatment or intravenous delivery.
  • The alginate/PEGDA sheet houses PLGA microparticles tuned to release at days 1-3, 7-9, and 12-14 after implantation.
  • Sequential agents were neuregulin-1, VEGF, and the anti-fibrotic small molecule GW788388, with the first two previously tested in clinical trials.
  • The biodegradable material thins to a near layer over about a year, and the team plans further animal testing while evaluating stent-based deployment to reduce surgical burden.