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NIST's Heart-on-a-Chip to Ensure More Precise Drug Development

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) https://www.nist.gov within the Department of Commerce, have made a major step forward in drug development known as "heart-on-a-chip" (HoC).

This technology addresses the limitations of conventional cardiovascular drug development, which relies heavily on animal testing. By replicating humanlike models for studying cardiovascular diseases, the HoC system may be able to help replace animal testing thereby shortening drug development timelines and reduce costs.

The HoC is a device that mimics the intricate interactions of cells within the heart on a small chip. The actual design of the heart on-a-chip varies, but it is typically a small transparent or semi-transparent chip consisting of a network of microchannels which are designed to initiate blood vessels found in the human heart. Researchers can stimulate them or observe their behavior under different conditions, such as when they are introducing a drug.

"The HoC is designed to mimic the conditions of a real heart," said NIST Researcher Darwin Reyes, who led the development of the HoC system. "We can manipulate the environment to change stem cells into heart cells and make them contract and relax, as they do in a body to produce a heartbeat."

Researchers report that the concept of "organ-on-a-chip" extends beyond just the heart. Researchers can create chips that mimic the conditions of various organs, and these chips can even be interconnected for form a multi-organ system.

For example, a heart-on-a-chip connected to a liver-on-a-chip is able to simulate how the heart and lever interact in response to certain drugs or medical conditions.

This approach provides a more comprehensive understanding of how different organs function together in the human body. Although HoC is focused on cardiovascular drug development, capabilities can extend beyond a specific organ, since the system can be applied to various cell types, including those relevant to cancer research.

Go to NIST's paper by Derrick Butler and Darwin R. Reyes published in "Lab on a Chip" https://pubs/rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2024/lcd31coo829k for more information.