Researchers led by biomedical engineers at Tufts
University invented a microfluidic chip containing cardiac cells
that is capable of mimicking hypoxic conditions following a heart
attack—specifically when an artery is blocked in the heart and then
unblocked after treatment. The chip contains multiplexed arrays of
electronic sensors placed outside and inside the cells that can
detect the rise and fall of voltage across individual cell
membranes, as well as voltage waves moving across the cell layer,
which cause the cells to beat in unison in the chip, just as they
do in the heart. After reducing levels of oxygen in the fluid
within the device, the sensors detect an initial period of
tachycardia (accelerated beat rate), followed by a reduction in
beat rate and eventually arrhythmia which mimics cardiac
arrest.
Heart attack on a chip: Scientists model conditions of
ischemia on a microfluidic device
