The tissue with the improved capabilities, engineered from human cells, synthetic polymers and nanoelectronic components, is supposed to replace the heart muscle that is damaged after a heart attack
Researchers at Tel Aviv University have engineered a heart in June with improved capabilities, built from cardiac muscle cells, biomaterials and nanoelectronics, which enables online monitoring of cardiac activity, and includes algorithms to deal with cardiac failures. Behind the engineering breakthrough is a team of researchers led by Dr. Tal Dvir from the Departments of Biotechnology, Materials Science and Engineering and the Nanotechnology Institute at Tel Aviv University. The results of the groundbreaking research were published in the prestigious journal Nature Materials.
Heart diseases are the leading cause of death in Western countries, and of these myocardial infarction is the most common of all. A heart attack, or in its medical name: myocardial infarction, happens when one of the coronary arteries feeding the heart is blocked, and as a result oxygen does not reach the heart muscle tissue. The dead muscle cells form scar tissue that is no longer able to contract and send blood and oxygen to the rest of the body.
"The statistics say that 50% of those who have had a severe heart attack will die within 5 years of the attack," says Dr. Tal Dvir. "What we are trying to do in our laboratory is to produce tissue substitutes for internal organs in general, and in particular to engineer heart muscle tissue. Nowadays, if someone has a severe heart attack, there is not much that can be done except to transplant a new heart. Since there is a shortage of donors, we in our laboratory are trying to engineer new solutions and build new tissues."
One living human tissue
In general, tissues are composed of cells and the extracellular material, which links the cells chemically, mechanically and electrically. "Basically, it is the extracellular material that turns a collection of cells into a functioning tissue," explains Dr. Dvir. "We in the laboratory are trying to reproduce the same extracellular material in a synthetic way. We study the various properties of the biological tissue, and then operate with a method of reverse engineering. We don't just engineer biomaterials, we check how cells we seed on the same biomaterial reorganize into tissue: how they contract, how they transmit electrical signals, and so on."
But engineering heart muscle tissue from synthetic polymers has some problems. One of them is the patient's immune system, which may reject the transplant. The solution that Dr. Dvir and his colleagues found is to use biomaterials from the patient himself. "Naturally, there is nothing more adapted to the patient than his own materials. Instead of creating them synthetically, in the past we were able to create heart patches based on biomaterials and stem cells coming from the patient. This way we are able to create a completely autologous heart muscle patch."
Online monitoring of heart activity
The latest, and most ambitious, development by Dr. Dvir and PhD student Ron Feiner is the integration of electronic components in the engineered tissues. "The idea is to conduct online monitoring of the heart's activity with the help of nanoelectronics, and when necessary, to pace the activity of the engineered tissue, and even to release drugs at the push of a button with the help of special polymers that we have developed," says Dr. Dvir. "For example, if the tissue signals that there is inflammation, an anti-inflammatory drug can be released. If the tissue reports that there is a lack of oxygen, we can release biofactors that attract stem cells to build more blood vessels. All this in real time. The patient sits at home and does not feel well. The doctor receives a beeper, enters the computer and sees the condition of the heart. From there he decides on remote treatment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYmBLrETpuQ
Watch the Vikki academy video about the study
Self-regulation instead of an attached doctor
"Actually, after the transplant we no longer really need the doctor, because the bionic heart regulates itself. You can write software, code, that tells him how to drive. For example, when the engineered tissue feels less than sixty contractions per minute - it provides the signal to contract at the desired frequency. No need to wait for a doctor. This development is a breakthrough. Because until now such artificial tissues, in the entire field of tissue engineering, were not capable of self-regulation. Here we are talking about cyborg embroidery: a combination of living elements and a machine. It's something alive, June's heart. In the next step we will try the technology we developed on animals, with the goal being to reach clinical trials. We have just started working in the lab on the following ambitious project: using a XNUMXD printer to print a whole heart in one, which includes atria, ventricles, valves and blood vessels. And electronics, of course."
