Circ: Research may pave way for light-driven pacemakers
In a study that is seeking to explore the possibility of light-driven pacemakers and muscle actuators, researchers have demonstrated the efficacy of low-energy light as a way to control cardiac contractions. The findings were published Aug. 9 in Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology.
Emilia Entcheva, PhD, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, N.Y., and colleagues, utilized optogentics—a new field that introduces light-sensitive proteins into excitable cells—in conjunction with a tandem cell unit (TCU) strategy to produce optically excitable heart tissue, according to the study. Excitable cells in nerves and muscles can actively generate electrical signals.
“Electronic cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators are well established as successful technologies, but they are not without problems, including the breakage of metal leads, limited battery life and interference from strong magnetic fields,” Entcheva stated in a press release. “Eventually, optical stimulation may overcome some of these problems and offer a new way of controlling heart function.”
In the study, the researchers created cells expressing a light-sensitive protein called channelrhodopsin 2 (ChR2) and coupled them with heart muscle cells from animals. Creating heart tissue that was stimulated by a light source, Entcheva et al found light-induced muscle contractions were indistinguishable from electrically-triggered waves. Additionally, a person’s own cells can be cultured to respond to light, therefore reducing the likelihood of rejection by immune systems, the authors noted.
“Our method of non-viral cell delivery may overcome some hurdles toward potential clinical use by harvesting cells from the patient, making them light-responsive and using them as donor cells in the same patient,” Entcheva stated.
The research demonstrates numerous potential benefits in controlling heart function, according to the researchers, including using less energy, offering superior spatiotemporal control and remote access. The approach “can serve not only as an elegant tool in arrhythmia research, but may form the basis for a new generation of light-driven cardiac pacemakers and muscle actuators,” the study authors wrote. “The TCU strategy is extendable to (non-viral) stem cell therapy and is directly relevant to in vivo applications.”
According to early calculations, the light-based system might require one-tenth the energy of a typical pacemaker. “Optical stimulation is a great tool to selectively probe and control different parts of the electrical circuitry of the heart to better understand where the vulnerable sites are or what gives rise to lethal arrhythmias,” Entcheva stated.
Emilia Entcheva, PhD, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, N.Y., and colleagues, utilized optogentics—a new field that introduces light-sensitive proteins into excitable cells—in conjunction with a tandem cell unit (TCU) strategy to produce optically excitable heart tissue, according to the study. Excitable cells in nerves and muscles can actively generate electrical signals.
“Electronic cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators are well established as successful technologies, but they are not without problems, including the breakage of metal leads, limited battery life and interference from strong magnetic fields,” Entcheva stated in a press release. “Eventually, optical stimulation may overcome some of these problems and offer a new way of controlling heart function.”
In the study, the researchers created cells expressing a light-sensitive protein called channelrhodopsin 2 (ChR2) and coupled them with heart muscle cells from animals. Creating heart tissue that was stimulated by a light source, Entcheva et al found light-induced muscle contractions were indistinguishable from electrically-triggered waves. Additionally, a person’s own cells can be cultured to respond to light, therefore reducing the likelihood of rejection by immune systems, the authors noted.
“Our method of non-viral cell delivery may overcome some hurdles toward potential clinical use by harvesting cells from the patient, making them light-responsive and using them as donor cells in the same patient,” Entcheva stated.
The research demonstrates numerous potential benefits in controlling heart function, according to the researchers, including using less energy, offering superior spatiotemporal control and remote access. The approach “can serve not only as an elegant tool in arrhythmia research, but may form the basis for a new generation of light-driven cardiac pacemakers and muscle actuators,” the study authors wrote. “The TCU strategy is extendable to (non-viral) stem cell therapy and is directly relevant to in vivo applications.”
According to early calculations, the light-based system might require one-tenth the energy of a typical pacemaker. “Optical stimulation is a great tool to selectively probe and control different parts of the electrical circuitry of the heart to better understand where the vulnerable sites are or what gives rise to lethal arrhythmias,” Entcheva stated.