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Inside a lab at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, researchers are creating biosynthetic heart tissue that might some day change the lives of patients with damaged hearts.
Federal officials watched Wednesday as a member of the team working on the project demonstrated how the liquid bio-material becomes gel-like when warmed to body temperature. When it is injected into the heart, it acts as a kind of “scaffolding” that reinforces weakened heart tissue, said Dr. Erik Suuronen, lead researcher.
“We have procedures that can restore blood flow to the heart but they do not repair or regenerate the damaged tissue,” said Suuronen. “As a result, patients are often left with a poorly functioning heart, which can lead to heart failure and ultimately death.”
Suuronen and his team are working to change that.
The pioneering treatment has, so far, shown promise when used on lab animals. Suuronen hopes to begin human trials in the next five years or so.
Dr Erik Suuronen, (c) talks to Kate Young, M.P. and Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, while Dr Emilio Alarcon, cardiac surgeon and researcher, looks on, prior to a press conference where federal funding was announced at the Ottawa Heart Institute which will include some ways artificial intelligence can be used to improve health treatment.
The project received a federal Collaborative Health Research Projects grant of more than $800,000 to do further work on the material in preparation for human trials.
The bio-material made from collagen not only has the potential to reduce heart failure and further damage in some people after severe heart attacks, but it also reduces inflammation and has the potential to enhance stem cell therapies in the works that aim to repair damaged hearts.
Current heart treatments include stents or bypass surgery to improve blood flow and drug treatments. There is nothing that prevents muscle damage, which Suuronen is hoping the bio-material will do when tested in humans.
Heart attack victims can immediately lose muscle and within hours could lose millions of cells, with damage continuing for weeks.
“We are hoping to prevent the ongoing loss of tissue,” said Suuronen. “You could potentially save more cells from dying and have a real-life outcome.”
Kate Young, the parliamentary secretary for science, noted that heart disease and strokes take a life every seven minutes in Canada. While there are treatments to restore blood circulation, she said, “we do not have a way to prevent the loss of heart tissue that can lead to heart failure down the road.”
Suuronin’s work, she said, “will surely save the lives of many Canadians and many people around the world.”
Federal Environment Minister and Ottawa Centre MP Catherine McKenna said there was always a belief that “you can’t heal hearts.” Researchers at the heart institute, she said “are working on being able to do just that.”
The heart institute-based research project was just one of a number supported through the last round of Collaborative Health Research Projects funding. Another, based at McGill, focused on creating a blood test to diagnose cancer.
The next round of funding for the program — created by federal science and research agencies with the aim of “bringing cutting-edge science to the front lines of health care” — will focus on artificial intelligence.
The program will provide $6 million for upcoming projects that focus on investigating the ethical, legal and societal impact of artificial intelligence in the health sector.
epayne@postmedia.com
查看原文...
Federal officials watched Wednesday as a member of the team working on the project demonstrated how the liquid bio-material becomes gel-like when warmed to body temperature. When it is injected into the heart, it acts as a kind of “scaffolding” that reinforces weakened heart tissue, said Dr. Erik Suuronen, lead researcher.
“We have procedures that can restore blood flow to the heart but they do not repair or regenerate the damaged tissue,” said Suuronen. “As a result, patients are often left with a poorly functioning heart, which can lead to heart failure and ultimately death.”
Suuronen and his team are working to change that.
The pioneering treatment has, so far, shown promise when used on lab animals. Suuronen hopes to begin human trials in the next five years or so.
Dr Erik Suuronen, (c) talks to Kate Young, M.P. and Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, while Dr Emilio Alarcon, cardiac surgeon and researcher, looks on, prior to a press conference where federal funding was announced at the Ottawa Heart Institute which will include some ways artificial intelligence can be used to improve health treatment.
The project received a federal Collaborative Health Research Projects grant of more than $800,000 to do further work on the material in preparation for human trials.
The bio-material made from collagen not only has the potential to reduce heart failure and further damage in some people after severe heart attacks, but it also reduces inflammation and has the potential to enhance stem cell therapies in the works that aim to repair damaged hearts.
Current heart treatments include stents or bypass surgery to improve blood flow and drug treatments. There is nothing that prevents muscle damage, which Suuronen is hoping the bio-material will do when tested in humans.
Heart attack victims can immediately lose muscle and within hours could lose millions of cells, with damage continuing for weeks.
“We are hoping to prevent the ongoing loss of tissue,” said Suuronen. “You could potentially save more cells from dying and have a real-life outcome.”
Kate Young, the parliamentary secretary for science, noted that heart disease and strokes take a life every seven minutes in Canada. While there are treatments to restore blood circulation, she said, “we do not have a way to prevent the loss of heart tissue that can lead to heart failure down the road.”
Suuronin’s work, she said, “will surely save the lives of many Canadians and many people around the world.”
Federal Environment Minister and Ottawa Centre MP Catherine McKenna said there was always a belief that “you can’t heal hearts.” Researchers at the heart institute, she said “are working on being able to do just that.”
The heart institute-based research project was just one of a number supported through the last round of Collaborative Health Research Projects funding. Another, based at McGill, focused on creating a blood test to diagnose cancer.
The next round of funding for the program — created by federal science and research agencies with the aim of “bringing cutting-edge science to the front lines of health care” — will focus on artificial intelligence.
The program will provide $6 million for upcoming projects that focus on investigating the ethical, legal and societal impact of artificial intelligence in the health sector.
epayne@postmedia.com
查看原文...
