Controlling Firing Point of Microfiber-Shaped Hipsc-Derived Cardiac Tissue with Localized Electrical Stimulation Device

We propose a device to apply localized electrical stimulation to control cardiac conduction in in vitro cardiac tissue. Our system can initiate the generation of electrical impulses at any location by applying local electrical stimulation to the desired point of the microfiber-shaped cardiac tissue. Our system generated a strong and intense electric field between the electrodes in FEM analysis, indicating only the cardiac tissue between the electrodes was electrically stimulated. We could observe the cardiac conduction optically by visualizing the timing and location of impulses with calcium imaging at any location and time on the tissue. The system enables accurate analysis of cardiac potential and conduction velocity of the heart model, and could contribute to the elucidation of pathological dynamics such as arrhythmia, whose mechanism of occurrence still remains unknown.