# Atraumatic Non-fibrotic Epicardial Pacing with E-Bioadhesive Devices

> **NIH NIH R01** · MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · 2024 · $603,351

## Abstract

Project Summary
 Almost a million patients undergo heart surgery annually in the US, and perioperative heart rhythm
abnormalities including bradycardia and complete-degree heart block are one of the most common and fatal
complications of cardiac surgery. Implantation of temporary epicardial pacing leads is the standard of care for
patients undergoing cardiac surgery to provide on-demand pacing of the heart. Such leads prove necessary to
control potentially life-threatening bradyarrhythmias in approximately 15% of all post-operative cardiac surgery
patients. The current temporary epicardial pacing leads suffer from two major limitations: 1) Traumatic
implantation and removal processes. At implantation, the conventional leads in form of wires are pierced into
the epicardium to be anchored. This approach puts patients at risk of local hemorrhage, possibly cardiac
chamber perforation, and tamponade. After 1-2 weeks, the risk of these complications is even higher following
the removal of the pacing leads, by pulling them out of the epicardium. 2) Inflammation-induced capture
threshold elevation and early device failure. Trauma and foreign body response cause fibrous capsule
formation at the lead-tissue interface, which leads to loss of capture and early device failure. For instance, 60%
of right and 80% of left atrial leads fail by the 15th postoperative day.
 To address the abovementioned challenges, we propose to develop an electrically conductive
bioadhesive (e-bioadhesive) device that can offer: 1) robust atraumatic integration and on-demand
atraumatic removal, and 2) no fibrous capsule formation at the device-tissue interface, therefore providing
stable and effective pacing capability and improving patient safety throughout the hospitalization. Preliminary
data from joint publications of the MPIs in Nature, Nature Materials, Nature Biomedical Engineering, and Science
Translational Medicine validate that our e-bioadhesives can form instant, robust, and electrically conductive
adhesion to wet dynamic organs and also offer on-demand detachment. Here we aim to conduct a series of in
vitro, ex vivo, and rodent and porcine in vivo studies to develop and systematically benchmark our e-bioadhesive
devices in direct comparison to commercially used temporary epicardial leads. We will thoroughly assess and
optimize the e-bioadhesives’ attachment and detachment mechanisms, sensing and pacing capabilities, and
evaluate the tissue response to the e-bioadhesive. The design of the proposed e-bioadhesive devices should
allow for easy incorporation into existing clinical scenarios for temporary cardiac pacing, further accelerating the
clinical translation of this technology.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10893319
- **Project number:** 5R01HL167947-02
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
- **Principal Investigator:** Leigh Gareth Griffiths
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $603,351
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-08-01 → 2027-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10893319

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10893319, Atraumatic Non-fibrotic Epicardial Pacing with E-Bioadhesive Devices (5R01HL167947-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10893319. Licensed CC0.

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