Descrizione del progetto
Un muscolo artificiale per l’applicazione di dispositivi di assistenza alla contrazione cardiaca
Gli attuali trattamenti medici o chirurgici non possono ripristinare la contrattilità muscolare nell’insufficienza cardiaca e nella fibrillazione atriale, le malattie cardiache più comuni e gravi. Un approccio rivoluzionario sarebbe quello di utilizzare materiali intelligenti per supportare o ripristinare la funzione meccanica cardiaca. Il progetto REPAIR, finanziato dall’UE, si propone di studiare e consolidare un nuovo approccio nell’assistenza alla contrazione cardiaca. I ricercatori svilupperanno unità contrattili biomimetiche realizzate con un elastomero cristallino liquido. I prototipi del progetto apriranno la strada a nuove tecnologie biomediche che porteranno a una migliore qualità della vita e sopravvivenza.
Obiettivo
Heart Failure (HF) and Atrial Fibrillation (AF) are both associated with impairment of cardiac mechanical function. To assist ventricular contractility in HF, left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) have been developed and demonstrated able to reduce mortality in patients awaiting transplantation, but enormous disadvantages largely limit their long-term use. In parallel, promising devices to mechanically assist atrial contractile function have been successfully tested in large animals but never reached the clinical use. Our revolutionary idea to solve these clinical challenges is to exploit smart materials to support or restore the cardiac mechanical function. Among smart materials, liquid crystalline elastomers (LCEs) are able to respond to external stimuli in a reversible manner to generate movement or tension. The REPAIR consortium has recently developed a novel LCE-based artificial muscle that under external light stimulation is able to enhance cardiac muscle contraction. These results pave the way for the development of a novel generation of cardiac assist devices. We will first develop a mechanical performant and energetically efficient LCE material that, integrated with light sources (µLED array), will result in fundamental biomimetic contractile units to be structured in a suturable, remote controlled contractile tissue. The LCE-µLEDs contractile tissue will be exploited to develop a new generation of cardiac assist devices (e.g. ventriculoplasty patches, aortic rings for diastolic counterpulsation and epicardial bundles for atrial contraction assistance) and test the effects of their acute implantation in large mammals (open-chest sacrifice experiments) and human explanted hearts. Among LCE-device features: they will be self-contracting, low weight, associated with low thromboembolic risk, and most importantly, they will rely on a control unit that can modulate the exerted force providing the fist “tunable” cardiac assist device ever developed.
Campo scientifico
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
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H2020-EIC-FETPROACT-2019
Meccanismo di finanziamento
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinatore
50121 Florence
Italia