Novel injectable hydrogel electrodes may effectively treat ventricular arrhythmias, according to a recent study published by Rodriguez-Rivera et al in Nature Communications. Although current treatments for arrhythmias are capable of slowing conduction velocity, they may leave patients susceptible to reentrant arrhythmias. Researchers explained that these types of arrhythmias—in which the heart rhythm abnormality becomes self-sustaining because of delayed conduction in scarred heart tissue—often result in death. However, injectable hydrogel electrodes may be able to access the scarred tissue to enable direct pacing in these regions.

In the study, investigators used minimally invasive catheters to deliver the novel injectable hydrogel electrodes inside the coronary veins of porcine hearts. They found that the therapy created a conduction highway, promoted simultaneous pacing at several points along the hydrogel in previously inaccessible regions of the heart, and helped to avoid ischemia. Because the novel technology was found to be biostable, biocompatible, and tunable, the researchers hope the injectable hydrogel electrodes may represent a new treatment option for patients with ventricular arrhythmia. In a companion press release from on the findings from The Texas Heart Institute, the study authors concluded: “When injected into target vessels, the conductive hydrogel conforms to the patient’s vessel morphology. Adding a traditional pacemaker … allows for pacing that resembles the native conduction in the heart … and extinguishes the cause for arrhythmia.”