Key points from article :
Scientist developed the next-best thing, in the form of a tiny mechanical heart powered by real cardiac cells.
Flat-bodied "cardiac miniaturized Precision-enabled Unidirectional Microfluidic Pump" – or miniPUMP is just 3 sq cm.
It replicates the function of a real heart's ventricle (lower chamber).
A scaffold made up of a series of linked concentric acrylic spirals.
These plastic based 3D minuscules are seeded with live human cardiomyocytes (heart muscle cells).
Patients could have miniPUMPs made from their own cells, to see how different medications might affect their heart specifically.
"If I take cells from you, I can see how the drug would react in you, because these are your cells," said the lead scientist, Christos Michas.
Same technology could one day be used to produce other so-called "organ-on-a-chip" devices, such as lungs and kidneys.
Research by Boston University led by Christos Michas, published in Science advances.
