How do you mend a broken heart?  Not by singing the rest of the song by the Bee Gees, that’s for sure.

Yesterday, we discussed the development of an artificial heart, one that is now being improved using 3D printing.   Today, we’ll focus on mending hearts that are solely designed using 3D printing concepts.

Researchers at Harvard’s affiliates, the Brigham and Womens’ Hospital and the Wyss Institute, along with the University of Sydney, are using hydrogel as the base structure upon which 3D printed cells are aligned.   (The hydrogel, called MeTro, acts as the scaffolding upon which the cells grow.)  These printed cells have been found to work (beat and operate) in animal implantations.

Dr. Ali Khademhosseini (who is also a chemical engineer jointly appointed at MIT, and studied under my friend, Bob Langer) leads the group effort.  His group determined that hydrogels are critical for the elastic contractile heart muscle function.  These devices provide the biochemical, mechanical, and electrical properties- without breaking apart so easily as to fail in use.  (Most gels are not strong enough to endure repetitive motion, like beating.)

The MeTro gel is comprised of tropoelastin (actually, it’s methacrylated), and can be modified by ultraviolet light (UV) exposure.  The UV-set gel yields linear patterns upon which the cells align, and then can synchronously contract (in response to electrical stimulation), thereby providing viable beating heart tissue.

The group recently presented its results at the 247^th Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Dallas.  By mimicking the mechanical and biological properties of heart tissue, they can repair the heart, which may obviate the need for transplants.

So, this may mean we will have two alternatives in the near future to treat cardiac failure, the largest cause of death to humans.

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