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Bioprinted optoelectronically active cardiac tissues
Faheem Ershad1,2,3, Zhoulyu Rao4,5, Sushila Maharajan6
1Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
Science Advances
|January 24, 2025
Summary
Researchers developed printable, light-stimulable cardiac tissues using optoelectronically active scaffolds. This noninvasive method enables wireless control of heart tissue beating, offering a promising new therapy for cardiac conditions.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Tissue Engineering
- Optoelectronics
Background:
- Electrical stimulation of bioprinted tissues is limited by invasive methods and potential cell damage.
- Current cardiac modulation therapies often require wired electrodes and genetic modifications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a wireless, noninvasive method for controlling cardiac tissue activity.
- To create light-stimulable, optoelectronically active tissues for cardiac modulation.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of a gelatin methacryloyl scaffold embedded with micro-solar cells.
- Seeding the scaffold with cardiomyocytes to form optoelectronically active tissues.
- Optoelectronic stimulation using pulsed light to modulate cardiac beating.
Main Results:
- Light stimulation increased cardiomyocyte beating rates by over 40%.
- Maintained high cell viability (>96%) during light stimulation.
- Demonstrated successful acceleration of heart beating in vivo in rats.
Conclusions:
- Optoelectronically active scaffolds enable untethered, noninvasive, and damage-free modulation of cardiac tissues.
- This technology offers a printable and optically controllable solution for future therapies of electrically active tissues.
- The developed optoelectronically active tissues represent a significant advancement in wireless cardiac modulation.
