REMODELLING OF THE INFARCTED HEART: PIEZOELECTRIC MULTIFUNCTIONAL PATCH ENABLING THE SEQUENTIAL RELEASE OF THERAPEUTIC FACTORS

Cardiac disease remains a major societal and healthcare burden that affect nearly two million European citizens every year.

The REBORN project brings together a consortium of six scientific, four SME, and two large company partners who are committed to making a step-change to the development of medical devices for cardiac applications for the treatment of people who have suffered from a heart attack (myocardial infarction, MI).

A MI causes fibrosis in the heart walls, which impedes cardiac function and means there is a high risk of subsequent heart failure post-MI. There are no current treatment options to address this major clinical problem. The REBORN project will use smart and multifunctional biomaterials to deliver a new medical device in the form of a cardiac patch, to be applied to the heart in order to stimulate and support local heart tissue remodelling. The piezoelectric patch will electromechanically couple with the heart and deliver anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrotic and cardiomyocyte proliferative factors on demand, with drug release triggered by ultrasonic (US) stimulation from outside the body. Development of the device will be based on new smart multifunctional materials: electrospun piezoelectric fibres combined with smart carriers designed to work in harmony with the US.

To prepare the ground for exploitation, the patch will be extensively characterised in vitro and in vivo. Accelerating the development of the patch requires an effective in vitro model for experimentation, and novel 3D bioprinting techniques will be exploited to create a 3D in vitro model in the form of a tissue engineered tubular heart chamber, capable of pumping fluid using cell contractile forces. This will give a new in vitro model capable of both functional and structural testing.

The REBORN project will develop, validate and prepare for the exploitation new treatment options for post-MI fibrosis and new processes for cardiac therapy development, addressing major unmet cli