Heart attacks can damage the heart tissue, which may not be repaired. Scientists are working on a pacemaker that can mend broken heart tissues and the new technology can revolutionize heart treatment.
Researchers at the Israel Institute of Technology and the University of Nottingham claim to have developed a stem cell therapy that improves the chances of fixing the broken heart tissues. However, grafted tissue and other heart tissues may not work in sync. The researchers suggest that they are aiming to overcome the problem with the help of proteins called rhodopsins that are very sensitive to the light.
Scientists reveal that they are working on a pacemaker, which emits light that will control the grafted heart tissues.
The researchers explain that muscle cells in the heart will contain two forms of rhodopsin. Blue light stimulates one of the rhodopsins that will induce electrical motion; while yellow light will stimulate the other rhodopsin, which will suppress the electrical activity. Such an approach will ensure that the light-sensitive pacemaker will emit light and work only on the transplanted tissue that contains rhodopsins.
"The researcher team hopes this light sensitive tissue can then be grafted on to a damaged heart, helping it beat more effectively to reduce the devastating effects of heart failure without the risk of heart rhythm problems," per the press release of the study.
As heart attacks damage tissues in the heart, the function of the organ gets limited post this. Such a condition can impact a person's life as the heart cannot function properly. There is currently no cure for mending damaged heart tissues and a person has to live with the medical problem.
The research has also received £400,000, or $614,750, funding, which will help researchers in the UK and in Israel to conduct collaborative study in the field for speedy results.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveals that more than 720,000 Americans suffer from heart attacks each year. Around 175,000 heart attacks are diagnosed in the UK every year.
However, with the development in technology if heart tissues can be grown in the lab and grafted in a patient's heart and then the grafted tissues can be regulated with the help of a pacemaker, it can help save lives of millions of people across the world.
