Researchers have invented an exciting new approach to studying heart tissues in the laboratory. This breakthrough could give the researchers new insights regarding heart diseases and test new therapies.
The peculiar innovation is aimed at creating mini amounts of human cardiac tissues generated from pluripotent stem cells called engineered heart tissues (EHTs). These EHTs are then cultured on active soft electro-deformable substrates which are equipped with microscopic sensors.
This means that the device enables researchers to:
- Assess electrical activity in pacemaker regions and action potentials in the heart tissue
- Track tissue contraction force
- Apply electrical impulse to the tissue
- Manage all the activities above at the same time and in an uninterrupted manner over long durations of time
This new way has some advantages like:
- Measurement is done without invasion hence, there is no destruction of tissue
- The procedure allows for future scanning which current approaches do not permit
- There is an ability to monitor abnormal electrical activities happening in the heart ‘grown’ tissues
- It indicated the drug induced myocardial dysfunction at narratively 0.5microgram particular dosage.
They demonstrated its abilities, in particular :
- Determining the influence the so far consumed drugs for heart over the inflamed organ
- Causing and eliminating diseased cardiac dysrhythmias in the heart structure.
- With this technology, it will be very easy to do cardiac tissues research. It might enable better and faster development and testing of new therapies for heart disease in patients in the future.
- Such an approach is still in its infancy, but it certainly has great potential in the study of heart function and pathology.
