Life-saving research at WPI

Dec 9, 2010 6:34pm

(NECN: Melissa Toupin, Worcester, Mass.) - Life saving research at Worcester Polytechnical Institute. Researchers are using stem cells to help damaged hearts.

It's about an inch long and the width of a single hair. Researchers at WPI are hoping the thread-like structures will be future of repairing damaged heart tissue.

Patients who have had a heart attack are at greater risk of having another, because tissue becomes damaged- making it difficult for the heart to pump like it used to.

So far the testing of the "threads" has been limited to a test tube but researchers are ready to push forward.

The next step will be to insert the cells into rats to see if the stem cells improve heart function.

Tags: Worcester, WPI, heart attacks

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