A soft electronic-instrumented cardiac patch for minimally invasive delivery and tissue healing

Abstract

Engineering cardiac tissues has attracted increasing attention in regenerative medicine. Human cardiac tissue has a complex and unique structure with intricately embedded vasculature network, making engineering cardiac tissue a challenge. This work aims to ultimately use three-dimensional (3D) extrusion bioprinting to engineer a myocardium that closely mimics the structure of its native counterpart with an embedded sensor for monitoring. We have specifically optimized the bioprinting parameters and the bioink composition. We also modified surface chemistry in order to bind two different materials. This provides a way to chemically attach the sensor mesh to a bioprinted cardiac construct. The developed cardiac patch can be used to replace the damaged or diseased cardiac tissues with the potential for non-invasive monitoring.