| 초록 |
Heart failure is one of the serious public health issue, which indicates a higher 5-year mortality rate than that of most cancers. Damage of the heart electrical conduction system and the myocardium causes myocardial disease in heart failure. We introduced an epicardial mesh made of highly conductive silver nanowire and mechanically elastic SBS rubber. We achieved ligand exchanged silver nanowire(AgNW) to mix SBS rubber homogeneously, resulting high conductivity (~11,210 S/cm) and low impedance of the AgNW/SBS composite. The epicardial mesh was well integrated with the heart, thus, recorded the heart signal without noise and delivered electrical stimulation. Synchronized electrical stimulation over the ventricles by the epicardial mesh enhanced the pumping ability of the rat’s heart up to 50%. The epicardial mesh was also able to defibrillate by delivering an electrical shock. We also improved biocompatibility of the epicardial mesh through the deposition of gold layer, which reduced inflammatory reaction after 3-weeks implantation on the rat’s heart. Our epicardial mesh can be a new pathway toward reconstruction of the cardiac tissue and its specialized functions. |
