The new patch is designed to carry several different drugs that can be released at different times, on a pre-programmed schedule. In a study of rats, the researchers showed that this treatment reduced the amount of damaged heart tissue by 50% and significantly improved cardiac function.

If approved for use in humans, this type of patch could help heart attack victims recover more of their cardiac function than is now possible, the researchers say.

“When someone suffers a major heart attack, the damaged cardiac tissue doesn’t regenerate effectively, leading to a permanent loss of heart function. The tissue that was damaged doesn’t recover,” says Ana Jaklenec, a principal investigator at MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. “Our goal is to restore that function and help people regain a stronger, more resilient heart after a myocardial infarction.”