Bioheart granted patent for inducing angiogenesis by electrical stimulation

Bioheart has announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued the company a notice of allowance regarding its patent application 09/858,046, entitled Method For Inducing Angiogenesis By Electrical Stimulation of Muscles.

This invention is based on research conducted by Dr. Shinichi Kanno and Dr. Yasufumi Sato which is described in an article published in the journal Circulation in 1999 (Circulation. 1999;99:2682-2687).

The article describes that when the patented electrical stimulation sequence is applied to ischemic muscle that it significantly increases capillary density, thus increasing blood flow in the tissue.

Bioheart is focused on repairing damaged heart muscle with its MyoCell product, a myogenic cell composition made up of adult muscle stem cells called myoblasts. The company believes the issued claims will allow it to combine its MyoCell product with the said electrical stimulation sequence which could increase the blood supply to the transplanted cells and increase their survival. MyoCell is delivered to a patient's heart through the company's percutaneous needle injection catheter called the MyoCath.

Bioheart has two additional patents pending for utilizing electrical stimulation to enhance the repair of damaged heart muscle. The company envisions that these new electrical stimulation programs may be applied by bi-ventricular pacemakers to cell-transplanted regions of the heart in order to further improve patient outcomes.