Injectable hydrogels that aim to mechanically stabilise the weakened left ventricle wall to restore cardiac function or to deliver stem cells in cardiac regenerative therapy have shown promising data. However, the clinical translation of hydrogel-based therapies has been limited due to difficulties injecting them through catheters. We have engineered a novel catheter, Advanced Materials Catheter (AMCath), that overcomes translational hurdles associated with delivering fast-gelling covalently cross-linked hyaluronic acid hydrogels to the myocardium. We developed an experimental technique to measure the force required to inject such hydrogels and determined the mechanical/viscoelastic properties of the resulting hydrogels. The preliminary in vivo feasibility of delivering fast-gelling hydrogels through AMCath was demonstrated by accessing the porcine left ventricle and showing that the hydrogel was retained in the myocardium post-injection (three 200 μL injections delivered, 192, 204 and 183 μL measured). However, the mechanical properties of the hydrogels were reduced by passage through AMCath (≤20.62% reduction). We have also shown AMCath can be used to deliver cardiopoietic adipose-derived stem cell-loaded hydrogels without compromising the viability (80% viability) of the cells in vitro. Therefore, we show that hydrogel/catheter compatibility issues can be overcome as we have demonstrated the minimally invasive delivery of a fast-gelling covalently cross-linked hydrogel to the beating myocardium.

Advanced Materials and BioEngineering Research Centre Trinity College Dublin and the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland Dublin Ireland

Boston Scientific Ballybrit Business Park Ballybrit Galway Ireland

Brno University of Technology Faculty of Chemistry Institute of Physical Chemistry Purkynova Brno Czech Republic

Cellular and Molecular Imaging Core Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Dublin Ireland

Celyad SA Mont Saint Guibert Belgium

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering School of Engineering Trinity College Dublin Ireland

Discipline of Anatomy School of Medicine College of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences National University of Ireland Galway Ireland

Explora Biotech Srl G Peroni Rome Italy

R and D department Contipro Dolni Dobrouc Czech Republic

School of Pharmacy Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Dublin Ireland

Tissue Engineering Research Group Department of Anatomy Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Dublin Ireland

Trinity Centre for Bioengineering Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute Trinity College Dublin Dublin 2 Ireland

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