There’s no safe way to get a close-up view of the human heart as it goes about its work: you can’t just pop it out, take a look, then slot it back in. Scientists have tried different ways to get around this fundamental problem: they’ve hooked up cadaver hearts to machines to make them pump again, attached lab-grown heart tissues to springs to watch them expand and contract. Each approach has its flaws: reanimated hearts can only beat for a few hours; springs can’t replicate the forces at work on the real muscle. But getting a better understanding of this vital organ is urgent: in America, someone dies of heart disease every 36 seconds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
New miniature heart could help speed heart disease cures
There's no safe way to get a close-up view of the human heart as it goes about its work: you can't just pop it out, take a look, then slot it back in. Scientists have tried different ways to get around this fundamental problem: they've hooked up cadaver hearts to machines to make them pump again, attached lab-grown heart tissues to springs to watch them expand and contract. Each approach has its flaws: reanimated hearts can only beat for a few hours; springs can't replicate the forces at work on the real muscle. But getting a better understanding of this vital organ is urgent: in America, someone dies of heart disease every 36 seconds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.