The heart-on-a-chip is entirely 3D printed with built-in sensors that measure the contractile strength of the tissue, providing scientists with new possibilities for studying the musculature of the heart. (Credit: Johan Lind, Michael Rosnach, Disease Biophysics Group/Lori K. Sanders, Lewis Lab/Harvard University)

Built by a fully automated, digital manufacturing procedure, a 3D-printed heart-on-a-chip can be quickly fabricated and customized, allowing researchers to easily collect reliable data. The new approach to manufacturing may one day allow researchers to rapidly design organs-on-chips, also known as microphysiological systems, that match the properties of a specific disease or an individual patient’s cells.

Organs-on-chips mimic the structure and function of native tissue and have emerged as a promising alternative to traditional animal testing. Researchers have developed microphysiological systems that mimic the microarchitecture and functions of lungs, hearts, tongues, and intestines. However, the fabrication and data collection process for organs-on-chips is expensive and laborious. Currently, these devices are built in clean rooms using a complex, multistep lithographic process and collecting data requires microscopy or high-speed cameras.

By developing new printable inks for multimaterial 3D printing, they automated the fabrication process. They developed six different inks that integrated soft strain sensors within the micro-architecture of the tissue. In a single, continuous procedure, the team 3D printed those materials into a cardiac microphysiological device with integrated sensors.

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Medical