MIT engineers have developed a flexible drug-delivery patch that can be placed on the heart after a heart attack to help promote healing and regeneration of cardiac tissue.

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.