Since their synthesizing introduction to the research community, nanomaterials have infiltrated almost every corner of science and engineering. Over the last decade, one such field has begun to look at using nanomaterials for beneficial applications in tissue engineering, specifically, cardiac tissue engineering. During a myocardial infarction, part of the cardiac muscle, or myocardium, is deprived of blood. Therefore, the lack of oxygen destroys cardiomyocytes, leaving dead tissue and possibly resulting in the development of arrhythmia, ventricular remodeling, and eventual heart failure. Scarred cardiac muscle results in heart failure for millions of heart attack survivors worldwide. Modern cardiac tissue engineering research has developed nanomaterial applications to combat heart failure, preserve normal heart tissue, and grow healthy myocardium around the infarcted area. This review will discuss the recent progress of nanomaterials for cardiovascular tissue engineering applications through three main nanomaterial approaches: scaffold designs, patches, and injectable materials.

Nanotechnology and nanomaterials have had a significant positive impact within the biomedical field for quite some time, and have included cardiovascular, cartilage, and neural tissue engineering applications. Due to its potential for treating neural tissue, current research is investigating the use of nanomaterials for spinal cord injury (SCI), an injury characterized by tissue damage and the disruption of communication between the brain to the body. To treat such an injury, cell-based therapy has shown promising results, and the following papers are recommended. This communication will focus on nanoparticle, carbon nanotubes, and self-assembling peptide approaches for treating SCI, as well as concerns of toxicity.