CeNS Colloquium

Prof. Johan Ulrik Lind, Technical University of Denmark

Microphysiological systems derived from human stem cell sources promise to accelerate pharmaceutical and biomedical research by providing human-specific in vitro tissue models. However, instrumentation and fabrication of these bio-hybrid systems creates severe obstacles. To overcome these issues, our research focuses on developing mulitmaterial 3D printing methods for co-fabrication of living tissue and soft sensors. Here, I will present a series of 3D printed, instrumented models of the human heart muscle wherein embedded flexible sensors provide continuous readouts of essential functional markers such as contractile stress and beat rate. These platforms allow non-invasive and scalable readouts from multiple cardiac micro-tissues to support higher throughput drug-dose studies and long-term experiments. Additional unique opportunities include in vitro modelling of ischemic-reperfusion cardiac injury with real-time monitoring of tissue contractile performance.