Biomaterials based cardiac patches for the treatment of myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction (MI) is one of the common cardiovascular diseases that occurs with a blockage in one or more of the coronary arteries to lead to the damage of the myocardium, resulting in a life-threatening condition. To repair the damaged myocardium in MI, researchers are looking forwards to new ways to postpone the progression of myocardial injury. Cardiac patches, the scaffolds layered on the heart surface, can provide mechanical support for the infarction site and improve cardiac function by delivering various bioactive factors or cells, showing considerable curative effect in the treatment of MI. Biomaterials with certain biocompatibility and mechanical properties have received widespread attention for the application in cardiac patches. In this review, we focus on the recent progress on these biomaterials-based cardiac patches, which could be categorized into two types according to the sources of materials including (ⅰ) natural materials and (ⅱ) synthetic materials. The major advantages and current challenges of each type are discussed and a brief perspective on the future research directions is presented.