KarunaNews Story

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. “When someone suffers a major heart attack, the damaged cardiac tissue doesn’t regenerate effectively, leading to a permanent loss of heart function. The tissue that was damaged doesn’t recover,” says Ana Jaklenec, a principal investigator at MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. “Our goal is to restore that function and help people regain a stronger, more resilient heart after a myocardial infarction.” This patch, they hoped, could deliver drugs over an extended time period to promote tissue healing. Many diseases, including heart conditions, require phase-specific treatment, but most systems release drugs all at once. Timed delivery better synchronizes therapy with recovery. The patch is awaiting approval for use in humans.