Dissolving cardiac device monitors, treats heart disease

Nearly 700,000 people in the United States die from heart disease every year, and one-third of those deaths result from complications in the first weeks or months following a traumatic heart-related event. To help prevent those deaths, researchers at Northwestern and George Washington (GW) universities have developed a new device to monitor and treat heart disease and dysfunction in the days, weeks or months following such events.

Bioprinted 3D Cardiac Patches Could Reverse Scar Formation, Promote Myocardial Regeneration After Heart Attacks

Myocardial infarction, or heart attacks, play a large part in heart diseases and the necrosis of cardiac tissue. In APL Bioengineering, researchers take stock of stem cell-laden 3D-bioprinted cardiac patch technologies and their efficacy as a therapeutic and regenerative approach for ischemic cardiomyopathy in reversing scar formation and promoting myocardial regeneration. They explore types of candidate stem cells that possess cardiac regenerative potential and share updates on the challenging implementation of the state-of-the-art 3D-bioprinting approach.