Modelling the Effects of Conductive Polymers and Stem Cells Derived Myocytes on Scarred Heart Tissue

Myocardial infarction leads to permanent tissue scars that impairs cardiac function and can result in heart failure. The use of engineered heart tissue (EHT) and conductive polymers (CP) in regenerative medicine aims to assist tissue recovery and improve of cardiac function. However, the attachment of EHT to the epicardium may disrupt tissue electrophysiology and lead to an increased arrhythmia risk. We investigated the role that material properties, i.e. EHT and CP conductivity and thickness and EHT-tissue contact area, play in cardiac recovery, in the presence of scars with different depth, length and conductivity. We created a 2D model to simulate EHT and CP placed over a scar in rabbit ventricle. We performed a Global Sensitivity Analysis (GSA) to identify which parameters had the largest impact on electrical propagation across the scar and the EHT. Our model showed that in case of non-transmural scar the main determinants were scar depth and conductivity, explaining 30% and 33% of the variance, respectively. However, in case of transmural scar, the model indicated the EHT conductivity and the extent of the EHT-tissue contact explain 40% and 46% of the variance, respectively.