Dr. James Harber on behalf of his students Brandon Lyon, Vanessa Wong, Melvin Soriano, Rhianna Lee, & Kamille Romero – Oxnard College
Abstract
A myocardial infarction (MI) or heart attack often results in heart tissue atrophy that decreases the heart’s ability to pump nutrients and oxygenated blood throughout the body, leading to further systemic complications. This study explored teaching models for cell regeneration that are intended to improve heart valve surgery. This project was designed to teach methods associated with the trans-differentiation of the patient’s own skin cells to become heart cells using transcription factors. Lab experiments demonstrated that the mouse model heart cells could be shaped on fibrin substrates into functional material shapes, including suture for surgery. Proof of principle experiments were undertaken using mouse cells as a model system to grow beating heart tissue as suture material (“Cardiothread”) to address the need for functional replacement of heart tissues. We have been working on developing beating sutures from the P19.Cl6 mouse stem cell line which is capable of one-step cardiac differentiation in the presence of 1% DMSO. Sutures and newly 3D printed plastics were sterilized with 70% ethanol for 30 minutes and washed in tissue culture grade water prior to cultivation with living cells. A beating suture was generated, spooled, and electrically pulsed with platinum wire by a pacemaker built from a raspberry pi computer to become a beating Cardiothread. This project proposes that Cardiothread can be produced at bedside using a single use “Cardiothread Tissue Culture Kit” (CTCK). It is designed to produce a living suture thread for use with the DaVinci surgery robot The self-assembling CTCK kit consists of several sophisticated 3d printable parts to produce Cardiothread: the Weaver, the Assembler, Pacemaker and the cultivatable cellular suture thread wound and innervated on the Spool. Following tissue culture, the Cardiothread is spool is intended to be transferred to the DaVinci robot for use in heart valve surgery.
Details
Session 2
3:00pm – 4:30pm
Grand Salon
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