Wang Wei, Su Weiguang, Han Junlei, Song Wei, Li Xinyu, Xu Chonghai, Sun Yu, Wang Li
School of Mechanical Engineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), 250353, Jinan, China.
Shandong Institute of Mechanical Design and Research, 250353, Jinan, China.
Microsyst Nanoeng. 2025 Jan 9;11(1):4. doi: 10.1038/s41378-024-00751-z.
Cardiovascular diseases account for ~40% of global deaths annually. This situation has revealed the urgent need for the investigation and development of corresponding drugs for pathogenesis due to the complexity of research methods and detection techniques. An in vitro cardiomyocyte model is commonly used for cardiac drug screening and disease modeling since it can respond to microphysiological environmental variations through mechanoelectric feedback. Microfluidic platforms are capable of accurate fluid control and integration with analysis and detection techniques. Therefore, various microfluidic platforms (i.e., heart-on-a-chip) have been applied for the reconstruction of the physiological environment and detection of signals from cardiomyocytes. They have demonstrated advantages in mimicking the cardiovascular structure and function in vitro and in monitoring electromechanical signals. This review presents a summary of the methods and technologies used to monitor the contractility and electrophysiological signals of cardiomyocytes within microfluidic platforms. Then, applications in common cardiac drug screening and cardiovascular disease modeling are presented, followed by design strategies for enhancing physiology studies. Finally, we discuss prospects in the tissue engineering and sensing techniques of microfluidic platforms.
心血管疾病每年约占全球死亡人数的40%。由于研究方法和检测技术的复杂性，这种情况凸显了迫切需要针对发病机制研究和开发相应药物。体外心肌细胞模型常用于心脏药物筛选和疾病建模，因为它可以通过机电反馈对微生理环境变化做出反应。微流控平台能够精确控制流体，并与分析和检测技术集成。因此，各种微流控平台（即芯片心脏）已被应用于生理环境的重建和心肌细胞信号的检测。它们在体外模拟心血管结构和功能以及监测机电信号方面已显示出优势。本综述总结了用于监测微流控平台中心肌细胞收缩性和电生理信号的方法和技术。然后，介绍了在常见心脏药物筛选和心血管疾病建模中的应用，接着是增强生理学研究的设计策略。最后，我们讨论了微流控平台在组织工程和传感技术方面的前景。
