The bionic cardiac patch
Scientists and doctors in recent decades have made vast leaps in the treatment of cardiac problems, particularly since the development in recent years of “cardiac patches,” swaths of engineered tissue that can replace heart muscle damaged during a heart attack. Through the work of Charles Lieber and others, the next leap may be in sight. The Mark Hyman Jr. Professor of Chemistry and chair of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Lieber, postdoctoral fellow Xiaochuan Dai, and other co-authors conducted a study that shows the construction of nanoscale electronic scaffolds that can be seeded with cardiac cells to produce a bionic cardiac patch. The study is described in a June 27 paper published in Nature Nanotechnology. “I think one of the biggest impacts would ultimately be in the area that involves replaced or damaged cardiac tissue with pre-formed tissue patches,” Lieber said. “Rather than simply implanting an engineered patch built on a...