See how a heart-on-a-chip works: it functions like a real one

When conducting cardiac research, scientists are ideally suited to real, live human

hearts. But this is too valuable and rare an organ. Scientists have developed an alternative - a tiny mechanical heart that is powered by real cardiomyocytes.

Miniature Unidirectional Sizemicrofluidic pump with a flat body for the heart, abbreviated as miniPUMP (Precision-enabled Unidirectional Microfluidic Pump) is only 3 cm². It replicates the function of the ventricle (lower chamber) of a real heart, pumping water through itself in the same way a real heart pumps blood.

On the left miniPUMP beats thanks to the contractioncardiac tissue. When this happens, fluid is expelled (right) in the same way the human heart pumps blood. Image: Michas et al., Sci. Adv. 8, eabm3791 (2022), CC BY-NC

The device consists of a plastic base, onwhich contains tiny 3D printed acrylic valves, tubing and the pump itself. The pump itself includes a frame consisting of a series of interconnected concentric acrylic spirals. They are seeded with living human cardiomyocytes (heart muscle cells). As they expand and contract in unison, the flexible frame moves with them, pumping water through the miniPUMP.

Cardiomyocytes can be obtained using cellsskin, blood, or almost any other type of easily accessible cell. They are reprogrammed into stem cells, which can then be differentiated into heart cells. The research is described in a paper recently published in the journal Science Advances.

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