Flexible device improves cardiovascular disease treatment

Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death and currently available care strategies often have systemic side effects. Implantable bioelectronics have been proposed as an alternate solution, but such rigid and bulky devices carry their own side effects.

Park et al. develop a soft-material-based cardiac therapeutic device that can be implanted and placed on the surface of the heart via a minimally invasive procedure. Made out of a silver-based nanocomposite and a liquid metal, the thin fiber-like device can simultaneously sense electrophysiological signals, deliver electrical stimulation and administer drugs through a microfluidic channel.

The liquid metal component allows the device to be temporarily solidified with a freeze spray to ease insertion. Upon warming up in the body, the material returns to its liquid state, allowing the device to become flexible and stretchable, which make it better suited for use in the heart than previous rigid materials.

In-vivo testing in rats demonstrated the device’s multifunctionality by modulating heart rate through either electrical stimulation or drug delivery. Notably, both therapeutic modalities using the device resulted in a significantly faster therapeutic response compared to conventional cardiac implants.

“This result not only highlights the importance of integrating drug delivery functionality into the device, but also demonstrates the clinical relevance of our fiber platform, particularly in emergency cardiac situations where immediate intervention is critical,” says author Chanhui Park.

The authors intend to continue working on the device and expanding its capabilities. This includes using the fiber’s deformability to develop remote steering that can position and orient the device after implantation to allow for more precise electrical stimulation and drug delivery.

Source: “Liquid metal based stretchable bioelectronic fiber for electrical stimulation and drug delivery in minimally invasive cardiac therapy,” by Chanhui Park, Yesol Kim, Seonghyeon Nam, Hyejeong Kang, Joonho Moon, Ji Hoon Kim, Gi doo Cha, Seung-Pyo Lee, Sung-Hyuk Sunwoo, and Dae-Hyeong Kim, APL Bioengineering (2025). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0260773 .