Abstract
Developing and testing a custom fabricated 16-electrode noninvasive direct contact system was necessary to assess the electrical properties of bioengineered heart muscle and to further evaluate the efficacy of cardiac constructs. By culturing neonatal rat primary cardiac cells on a fibrin gel, we constructed 3D artificial heart muscle (3D-AHM), as described in previous studies, which were used in validating this novel system. Electrical and mechanical functional assessment of the tissues was performed, which yielded contractile forces of the tissues, electrical field potential characteristics, and tissue conduction velocities (CV) (20–170 cm/s). Immunohistological evaluation revealed the formation of cardiac tissue structures and cardiomyocyte proliferation. EKG data analysis also yielded time delays between signals in the range of 0–38 ms with electrical maps showing some evidence of synchronous contraction within the fabricated tissues. This study demonstrates the effectiveness and practicality of our novel EKG measuring system to acquire distinct electrical metrics of 3D-AHM, which will aid in increasing the viability and applicability of cardiac tissue constructs.
Highlights
Treatment of heart failure remains a major medical challenge in the US and around the globe
This study demonstrates the effectiveness and practicality of our novel EKG measuring system to acquire distinct electrical metrics of 3D artificial heart muscle (3D-AHM), which will aid in increasing the viability and applicability of cardiac tissue constructs
During culture of 3D-AHMs, we observed that the delamination began approximately after 3 days, which led to the formation of the desired shape with the minutien pins as anchor points
Summary
Treatment of heart failure remains a major medical challenge in the US and around the globe. Several treatments modalities exist for patients with heart failure, heart transplant remains the most effective mitigator. There exists a concerning deficit of organs for transplantation; the number of adults on the waiting list for heart transplants has increased by 34.2% from 2003 to 2013 [1]. With organ donors in such high demand, it is crucial that alternative treatment paradigms are developed. Tissue engineering focuses on the development of biological substitutes that serve in restoring, replacing, or improving the function of damaged tissues [2]. Cardiac tissue engineering examines the development of functional myocardium used to improve the lost functionality of the infarcted myocardium, in addition to modeling the physiology of cardiac development and diseases in vitro [3]
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