# Auxetic Ventricular Support Device for Chronic Myocardial Infarction

> **NIH NIH R21** · ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI · 2020 · $210,627

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Approximately every 40 seconds, someone will suffer a myocardial infarction (MI) in the US. While mortality
due to acute MI has decreased over the past two decades, long-term consequences and comorbidities
associated with chronic MI are increasing. In many cases, post-MI left ventricular (LV) remodeling manifests as
progressive changes in LV structure and function. This remodeling can initiate a degenerative cycle in which
altered myocardial wall mechanics around the infarcted region cause the heart to mechanically decompensate,
resultantly placing still more strain on the infarct. Such adverse LV remodeling is the cause of approximately
70% of all heart failure (HF) cases, which kill approximately 100,000 Americans each year. Current therapies
for chronic MI, HF, and LV remodeling include pharmacological treatments such as ACE-inhibitors and β-
blockers, coronary revascularization procedures, patch-type ventricular support devices (VSD), and
mechanical pump-type ventricular assist devices (VADs). However, drug interventions are stopgap remedies,
while VADs are highly invasive and expensive, and VSDs do not contribute to ejection and can impair diastolic
filling. This NIBIB R21 Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant proposal explores the potential for an
unusual class of “auxetic” materials, which counterintuitively get thicker (rather than thinner) when stretched, to
provide a novel means of passively restoring pumping function to the infarcted region of the heart. By fixing a
patch-like auxetic ventricular support device (auxVSD) to the expanding infarcted tissue, we plan to harness
the energy wasted on the non-beating infarct to instead stretch and expand an auxVSD, which would in turn
stiffen and press against the infarct tissue, contributing to the ejection of blood during systole, while softening
and allowing filling during diastole. Aim 1 will focus on the design, fabrication, and testing of potential auxetic
structures and materials. Mechanical simulations will be used to identify and optimize auxetic structures in
silico that possess a favorable combination of displacement and force due to the auxetic effect. Concurrently,
physical models will be fabricated for in vitro mechanical testing to inform the real-world feasibility of the
simulations, as well as provide preliminary information regarding the expected performance of an auxVSD in
the setting of a simplified cardiac tissue-like MRI phantom. In Aim 2 the efficacy of an auxVSD will be tested in
a preclinical large animal model of chronic MI using displacement-sensitive DENSE MRI to evaluate its in vivo
performance (vs. traditional VSD) for improving regional and global cardiac function through the dynamic
modulation of cardiac mechanics in the infarct zone. The project design is both translational and highly cross-
disciplinary. Despite the risky nature of this exploratory proposal, the assembled research team and
environment are ideally suited to maximize the chanc...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9984337
- **Project number:** 5R21EB028520-02
- **Recipient organization:** ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI
- **Principal Investigator:** KEVIN D COSTA
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $210,627
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-08-01 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9984337

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9984337, Auxetic Ventricular Support Device for Chronic Myocardial Infarction (5R21EB028520-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9984337. Licensed CC0.

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