Developing a new model simulating the heartbeat

Training strategies for the development and maintenance of mature structural and electromechanical properties of cardiac muscle patches in vitro(Mr Samuel Watson)

Supervised by Professor Cesare Terracciano, an MBPhD student is developing a new model that simulates the heartbeat in the laboratory so it can be used in research to bring regenerative medicine to the clinic. The ability to make cardiac muscle in the lab from human stem cells and the development of engineered heart patches that could repair damaged hearts has opened up exciting new avenues of research. But it is currently impossible to use these cells and patches to accurately mimic the function of the heart and reproduce its complicated structure in the laboratory for long periods. As a result researchers have to rely on animal models. One of the reasons simulation is difficult is because outside the body heart tissue is not stimulated mechanically like it is during a heartbeat, so it does not mature normally in the lab. In this project, the researchers will use new bioengineering technologies to reproduce the heartbeat in the lab by applying mechanical forces that produce mature heart muscle and engineered heart muscle patches. This research will be a step towards developing suitable engineered heart patches using human cells, which could be used for studying heart disease and in regenerative medicine and drug development.