Electroconductive Scaffolds: A New Strategy in Cardiac Tissue ‎Engineering

Myocardium tissue is an electroactive tissue capable of transferring electrical signals, which lead to synchronized beating of heart. Electrical impulses originate from sinoatrial node and spread though myocardium to induce mechanical contraction of cardiomyocytes. As the leading cause of death, worldwide, cardiovascular diseases are often accompanied by disruption of electrical integrity of cardiac tissue and arrhythmia. In many arrhythmias, lack of conduction as well as unidirectional conduction result in insufficient intercellular electrical coupling at gap junctions. Due to limitation of conventional treatment methods such as heart transplantation, pathological and therapeutic researches in cardiac electrical disorders have increased in last few years. The aim of this study was to review the last studies in electrical system of heart and its disorder along with the results and the future of the cardiovascular tissue therapy method based on Conductive biomaterial.
Electrical integrity is essential for normal functioning of the heart. Among the new methods of treating heart failure and improving the electrical integrity of the disorder caused by these defects, tissue engineering with the use of conductive electrical conductive materials has been widely considered along with other methods. Three main types of conductive materials have been used for tissue engineering application: (1) Gold-based materials (2) Carbon-based materials (3) Conductive polymers.