Date of Award
Fall 2022
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Biomedical Engineering
First Advisor
Tefft, Brandon
Second Advisor
Mitchell, Michael
Third Advisor
Mitchell, Aoy
Abstract
Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is an extremely severe form of congenital heart disease, but current treatments are not adequate. In order to find more effective treatments, we need to reproduce in vitro the physiological characteristics of cardiomyocytes associated with HLHS. Such a tissue model could be of great help to current medical research, and 3D printing technology is an effective tool for this purpose. We print layer-by-layer cardiomyocytes from both healthy and HLHS patients with laminin-based bioink to form a three-dimensional model. With our 3D cell culture technology, this model can simulate the growth conditions of cardiomyocytes in vivo. Measurements of the 3D printed samples at different time points showed that our model was able to fully demonstrate the differences between healthy and HLHS patients' cardiomyocytes. This result is the basis for more studies in the future, and we hope to build on this foundation with more diverse tests, such as drug tests, which will provide important help in the treatment of HLHS.