title: Application of the HeartLander crawling robot for injection of a thermally sensitive anti-remodeling agent for myocardial infarction therapy.
abstract: The injection of a mechanical bulking agent into the left ventricular (LV) wall of the heart has shown promise as a therapy for maladaptive remodeling of the myocardium after myocardial infarct (MI). The HeartLander robotic crawler presented itself as an ideal vehicle for minimally-invasive, highly accurate epicardial injection of such an agent. Use of the optimal bulking agent, a thermosetting hydrogel developed by our group, presents a number of engineering obstacles, including cooling of the miniaturized injection system while the robot is navigating in the warm environment of a living patient. We present herein a demonstration of an integrated miniature cooling and injection system in the HeartLander crawling robot, that is fully biocompatible and capable of multiple injections of a thermosetting hydrogel into dense animal tissue while the entire system is immersed in a 37°C water bath.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912, USA.
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.forename: Jose L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Lopez Gonzalez
authors.forename: Brina E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Goyette
authors.forename: Kazuro L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Fujimoto
authors.forename: Zuwei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: William R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: Marco A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Zenati
authors.forename: Cameron N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Riviere
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007267:Injections; D009038:Motion; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D012371:Robotics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013696:Temperature; D020257:Ventricular Remodeling / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate