Tapered Pillar Design for High-Precision Force Readout in Miniaturized Engineered Heart Tissues From Human Pluripotent Stem Cells.

ABSTRACT: Engineered heart tissues (EHTs) formed around flexible pillars are used to measure the contraction force of myocytes. When based on cardiac cells derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), EHTs capture human cardiac physiology and drug responses in vitro. However, variability in contractile function often arises due to variation in tissue positioning on the pillar. Here, novel tapered pillars are introduced to achieve spatial confinement of tissues in EHT devices. The devices are fabricated by moulding polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) into micromachined tapered cavities of a silicon substrate. The symmetrically-tapered geometry, with the minimum cross-section at the pillar mid-height, restricts tissue movement outside of the indented area. This increases sensitivity and accurac

SUBMITTER: Dostanic M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12683227 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature