A team of researchers at ETH Zurich and the University Hospital of Zurich has developed a new kind of heart patch that doesn’t just seal damaged areas—it helps them heal. After a heart attack, parts of the heart muscle can die due to lack of oxygen, and in severe cases, the heart wall can rupture. Current patches used to repair this damage are made from animal tissue and don’t integrate with the heart, often remaining as foreign objects that can cause complications.
The new patch, called RCPatch, is made from three components: a fine mesh to seal the damage, a 3D-printed scaffold for structural support, and a hydrogel filled with living heart cells. The scaffold is made from a biodegradable material that gradually breaks down as the cells grow and merge with the surrounding tissue. This means the patch eventually becomes part of the heart itself, leaving no foreign material behind.
In animal tests, the patch successfully repaired heart defects and withstood the pressure inside the heart. It also showed signs of encouraging tissue regeneration. The researchers hope that with further development, this technology could be used in human patients to not only repair heart damage but restore function more fully than current methods allow.
Here’s a video from ETH Zurich that explains more:
Article from ETH Zurich: https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2025/08/a-patch-for-the-heart.html
Abstract in Advanced Materials: Volumetric 3D Printing and Melt-Electrowriting to Fabricate Implantable Reinforced Cardiac Tissue Patches
