Project description
A patch for immune modulation and myocardial regeneration
Myocardial infarction kills part of the heart muscle, leaving behind scar tissue that cannot sustain effective cardiac function. The damage is permanent, often leading to heart failure and placing a heavy strain on healthcare systems. Current cardiac patches fail to reduce inflammation or restore effective pumping function. The ERC-funded PiezoMac project aims to develop a patch that harnesses optimised piezoelectric capabilities to generate electric fields from the heart’s stretching, promoting immune modulation and cardiac muscle regeneration. The project will use advanced 3D printing techniques, specifically melt electrowriting, to produce precise microfibrous patches informed by in silico modelling of piezoelectric generation. It will identify suitable mesh designs that align with the heart's anisotropy through finite element analysis and refine them via Bayesian optimisation
Objective
Cardiac injury in the form of a myocardial infarction leads to cardiac muscle death and replacement scar tissue that cannot compensate lost heart tissue. This disease does not improve with traditional drugs and places significant burden on healthcare budgets worldwide; with a reduced quality of life for patients, often leading to heart failure. Current engineered cardiac patches do not reduce inflammation and do not integrate in a sufficient manner to compensate the pumping power lost with the heart tissue.
The PiezoMac patch differs fundamentally from patches reported up to now. It will contain an optimised piezoelectric capability that will yield electric fields generated by the stretching of the heart. This electric field stimulation will be optimised to drive immunomodulate and regeneration of the cardiac muscle. The shape of the patch is predesigned using finite element modelling to conform the directional dependent stretching of the heart wall; with information of patient anatomy and extent of heart attack damage derived from X-ray CT and MRI scans. These smart patches will be 3D printed (using melt electrowriting) into accurate microfibrous ordered patches whose density, micro-orientation and fibre laydown will be informed using in silico modelling of piezoelectric generation and mechanical anisotropy. We will shortlist candidate mesh designs to match the anisotropy of the heart using finite element analysis, and refine the design process using a Bayesian Optimisation approach to strike a balance between mechanical anisotropy and piezoelectric output, and ultimately halt cardiac deterioration. This pragmatic and rational approach gathers and advances cutting-edge technologies in this interdisciplinary project to address a significant unmet need in healthcare today.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2023-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
D02 CX56 Dublin
Ireland
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