A multidisciplinary team that included three MSI PIs has successfully used 3D printing to create a centimeter-scale working heart pump. The structure, which is hollow and allows fluid to enter and exit, will allow researchers to better study heart function and test medicines and therapeutics. This research was the cover story of a recent issue of the journal Circulation Research, which is published by the American Heart Association. A story about the research appears on the College of Science and Engineering website: Researchers 3D Print a Working Heart Pump With Real Human Cells. The article includes a short video of the heart pump working. The research paper itself can be found on the journal website: In Situ Expansion, Differentiation, and Electromechanical Coupling of Human Cardiac Muscle in a 3D Bioprinted, Chambered Organoid.
MSI PIs who participated in this project are:
- Professor Brenda Ogle, lead researcher (head, Biomedical Engineering; director, Stem Cell Institute)
- Professor Ogle uses MSI for RNA-sequencing of the therapeutic benefits and detriments of hybrids of mesenchymal stem cells and parenchymal cells.
- Professor Michael McAlpine (Mechanical Engineering)
- Professor McAlpine uses MSI to support his group’s research into 3D printing of functional materials and devices.
- Associate Professor DeWayne Townsend (Integrative Biology and Physiology)
- Professor Townsend uses software available through MSI to analyze microscopy and other imaging data in a study of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.