BIOELASTIC MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT AS ARTIFICIAL PERICARDIA

THE LONG-TERM OBJECTIVE IS TO DEVELOP A SYNTHETIC PERICARDIUM FOR USE FOLLOWING OPEN HEART SURGICAL PROCEDURES, PARTICULARLY INVOLVING CARDIOPULMONARY BYPASS AND THE USE OF A TOTAL ARTIFICIAL HEART AS A BRIDGE TO TRANSPLANTATION. THE APPROACH UTILIZES A NEW CLASS OF BIOMATERIALS, ELASTOMERIC POLYPEPTIDES, THAT CAN BE CROSS-LINKED TO FORM BIOCOMPATIBLE, ELASTOMERIC MATRICES. THE METHODOLOGIES INVOLVE PEPTIDE SYNTHESIS, FABRICATION OF ELASTOMERIC MATRICES, INCORPORATION OF CELL ATTACHMENT SITES AND CYTOKINES, CELL CULTURE TESTING FOR MESOTHELIAL CELL ADHESION, CELL GROWTH AND MATRIX REMODELING, AND IN VIVO TESTING TO EVALUATE EFFICACY AND FOLLOW REMODELING OF THE SYNTHETIC FUNCTIONAL PERICARDIUM INTO A NATURAL PERICARDIUM. IN PHASE I, FOCUS WILL BE ON THE USE OF THE SIMPLEST MATRIX AS A BIOCOMPATIBLE ELASTOMERIC BARRIER (TO WHICH CELLS DO NOT ADHERE AND AROUND WHICH FIBROUS ENCAPSULATION DOES NOT OCCUR) TO PREVENT THE FORMATION OF ADHESION OF ARTIFICIAL HEART COMPONENTS TO PERICARDIUM, TO LUNG, ETC. MORE THAN 400,000 OPEN-HEART SURGICAL PROCEDURES ARE PERFORMED ANNUALLY IN THE U.S.; IN SOME CENTERS UP TO ONE IN FIVE HAVE BEEN 'REDO' OPERATIONS, WHERE CONSTRICTIVE PERICARDITIS, SEVERE HEMORRHAGE, LACERATION OF THE HEART OR SEVERING OF PREVIOUSLY IMPLANTED AORTA-CORONARY GRAFTS ARE SERIOUS COMPLICATIONS.