Cardiac pacemakers, which have helped countless heart patients lead normal lives, might one day be replaced by a newly created mesh that cradles the heart in an electromechanical hug.

Peter J. Zimetbaum, MD. Source: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center An international team of researchers led by investigators at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Seoul National University developed the electric mesh device that can be wrapped around the heart to deliver electrical impulses. The device offers a new way to improve heart function and treat dangerous arrhythmias by compensating for damaged cardiac muscle and enabling the living heart muscle to work more efficiently.

Pacemakers, which are used in some patients with cardiac failure, involve implanting small electrodes that help keep the heart contracting in a coordinated manner. Researchers say these devices are limited in that they deliver electrical stimulation only to designated spots in the heart and don’t provide a comprehensive solution that mimics the heart’s own whole-organ electrical conductive system.

The new device consists of tiny nanowires embedded in a rubber polymer that can conform to the unique three-dimensional anatomy of each individual heart. The mesh is designed to wrap around and "hug" the heart, thereby delivering electrical impulses to the whole ventricular myocardium, or heart muscle.

Developing this nanomaterial involved multidisciplinary research teams from seven institutes in the U.S., China and Republic of Korea. The electrical device was tailored through 3D printing and pre-assessment of the mechanics were conducted through computer simulation and functional assessment in an in vivo heart failure model.

In studies of rats, the mesh integrated structurally and electrically with the myocardium following heart attack, acting as a substructure of the heart during cardiac movement and improving contractile function without disturbing relaxation, researchers said.

"The concept of wrapping the heart is not new, but doing it with this attention to a more physiologic approach makes the device exceptionally smart,” says Dr. Peter Zimetbaum, MD, associate chief and director of Clinical Cardiology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.