New gel allows for targeted therapy after heart attack

Each patient responds to heart attacks differently and damage can vary from one part of the heart muscle to another. Researchers have now developed a way to address this variation via a material that can be applied directly to damaged heart tissue. The ability of this gel to deliver enzyme inhibitors as needed suggests that the researchers' technique might also find use in other inflammation-related disorders, such as osteoarthritis where the same enzymes degrade cartilage tissue.