Cyborg heart could help scientists better understand the human organ

In The Wizard of Oz, the Tin Man famously sang, “If I only had a heart . . . “ Although the Tin Man had to be satisfied with a heart-shaped clock, researchers reporting in ACS’ Nano Letters have now created a miniature cyborg heart that produces electrical signals like the human version. But instead of implanting the organoid into a robot, the researchers plan to use it to study heart development, diseases and therapeutics. To better understand complex organs like the heart and brain, scientists would like to implant sensors that could continuously monitor cellular activities throughout the entire 3D structure of an organ over a long period of time. However, implanting or injecting such devices directly into a living organ could destroy intricate cellular networks, and the sensors wouldn’t penetrate into all regions. Therefore, Jia Liu at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard and his colleagues wanted to incorporate nanoelectronics into human tissue to produce a miniature cyborg heart, outside of the human body.