Artificial heart muscle could one day save lives

DURHAM, North Carolina: Duke University biomedical engineers have created what they say is the world’s first artificial heart muscle that’s large enough to, some day, reduce the need for complicated and expensive heart transplant surgeries.

Because heart muscle cannot regenerate itself after a heart attack, the affected heart muscle dies and turns into scar tissue, leading to congestive heart failure that eventually results in the patient’s death, unless the damaged heart is replaced through transplant surgery.