Rescue Electrical Conduction of Heart Scar Tissue to Diminish Cardiac Arrhythmia

心脏病发作和心力衰竭是世界各地和加拿大残疾和死亡的主要原因。心脏病发作后，肌肉细胞的死亡会在心脏上形成疤痕。这个疤痕阻止了电信号的正常路径，使心脏以协调的方式跳动，以有效地从心脏排出血液。此外，中断的信号可能会引起额外的无效心跳（心律失常）。传导异常或心律失常的患者通常需要起搏器，但起搏器对心脏的电刺激会破坏正常的跳动顺序并引起心脏功能障碍。心脏病发作和电刺激都会导致心脏的异常信号传导。我们将创造新的导电生物材料，它将修复心脏，并在心脏病发作后正确地通过疤痕传导电信号。新材料将增强控制心脏泵血的电信号的传输。其目的是恢复上述心脏病的正常心脏协调收缩模式。一种生物材料是一种凝胶，它将被注射到疤痕组织中，以改善心脏的电信号传播。第二种生物材料是一种膜，将被应用于受损心脏的表面。我们的新材料是独一无二的，因为它们将促进电传导并保持心脏同步跳动。我们将测量凝胶和膜传导电信号的能力以及它们协调心跳的能力。我们的目标是为心脏病患者提供一种比现有疗法更有效的新疗法。这种新的方法可以让患者恢复正常的生活方式，并在不需要起搏器的情况下保持活跃。我们提出的研究的总体影响是提高患者的生活质量，减轻患者和医疗系统的心脏病负担。

Heart attacks and heart failure are the main causes of disability and death around the worldand in Canada. After a heart attack, the death of muscle cells causes a scar to form in theheart. This scar stops the normal path of electrical signals that allows the heart to beat in acoordinated fashion to efficiently eject blood from the heart. In addition, the disrupted signalscan induce extra inefficient heart beats (arrhythmia). Patients with abnormal conduction orarrhythmias often need a pacemaker, but electrical stimulation of the heart from thepacemaker disrupts the normal beating sequence and induces dysfunction of the heart. Bothheart attack and the electrical stimulation result in abnormal signal conduction in the heart.We will create new conductive biomaterials which will repair the heart and properly conductelectrical signals across the scar following a heart attack. The new materials will enhance thetransmission of electrical signals that control the pumping of the heart. The goal is to restorethe normal pattern of coordinated heart contraction for heart diseases described above. Onebiomaterial is a gel that will be injected into the scar tissue to improve the electrical signalingpropagation of the heart. The second biomaterial is a membrane which will be applied to thesurface of the damaged heart. Our new materials are unique because they will facilitateelectrical conduction and keep the heart beating synchronously. We will measure how wellthe gel and the membrane conduct electrical signals and how well they coordinate the heartbeats.Our aim is to provide a new treatment for cardiac patients that will be more effective thancurrent therapies. This new approach could allow patients to return to their normal lifestyleand remain active without the need of a pacemaker. The overall impact of our proposedresearch is to improve the quality of life for patients, and reduce the burden of heart diseasefor both patients and the healthcare system.