Biosensing platforms with enhanced mechanical matching for cardiomyocyte contractility monitoring

Cardiovascular diseases cause irreversible physiological damage, resulting in 33 % of global deaths. Biosensing platforms for cardiomyocyte contractility monitoring provide crucial metrics for evaluating cardiotoxicity. However, many current platforms potentially suffer from mechanical mismatch, including Young's modulus, cell adhesion, and geometric cues. Such mismatch can lead to alterations in the myofibril structure and abnormal contractile function of cardiomyocytes. In this review, we first summarize existing biosensing platforms for monitoring cardiomyocyte contractility. The differences between these platforms and the in vivo mechanical environment are then discussed, emphasizing the importance of mechanical matching for measurement accuracy. Finally, strategies for enhancing mechanical matching are then introduced in terms of softness, cell adhesion, and anisotropic microstructures in biosensing platforms.