A team of researchers, led by Professor Yaakov Nahmias from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, and Tissue Dynamics Ltd., has made a significant advancement by creating a miniaturized human heart model that has the potential to revolutionize cardiovascular research and drug testing. The research, recently published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, introduces a self-paced multi-chambered human heart model, about the size of a rice grain, which offers a groundbreaking approach to studying heart functions.

Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of global mortality, underscoring the critical importance of this pioneering work. Professor Nahmias and his team embarked on an intricate endeavor to create an accurate replica of the human heart using human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). The resulting model comprises multiple chambers, pacemaker clusters, epicardial membrane, and endocardial lining, all meticulously designed to mimic the structure and functions of the human heart.

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