HLI researchers 3D print living heart tissue
The engineered heart samples can be used to test drugs and treatments before clinical trials
At St. Paul’s Hospital’s Centre for Heart Lung Innovation (HLI), Dr. Zachary Laksman and his team have bio-printed living heart tissue using a custom-built 3D printer. These engineered heart samples can be used to test drugs and treatments before clinical trials – providing a faster, cheaper, and more accurate alternative to animal or early human testing.
The project, developed over three years by Dr. Laksman, PhD candidate Hattie Luo, and engineering student Ardin Sacayanan, represents a fusion of biology and engineering. By reprogramming patients’ blood cells into stem cells and differentiating them into heart cells, the team can now print tissue with unprecedented precision. “We had this vision of using a 3D printer to print heart tissue,” said Dr. Laksman.
Commercial bioprinters proved too rigid for the lab’s needs, so Sacayanan built a custom system, while Luo optimized cell quality and differentiation. The team also designed cardiac-specific bio-inks – cell-laden mixtures that protect living cells during printing. Supported by Genome Canada and Genome BC, the group is collaborating with Axolotl Bioscience to create next-generation cardiac bio-inks for global use.
Each printed tissue, just a few centimeters in size, can be used for “high-throughput screening,” testing multiple drugs at once. Because the tissues are genetically identical to the donor, this approach enables personalized medicine and offers a powerful alternative to animal testing. “We can replace early-stage clinical trials to bring safer and more effective drugs to market faster,” said Dr. Laksman.
Luo is now developing models for peripartum cardiomyopathy, while the lab continues refining tissue complexity to mimic the heart’s cellular diversity. “We’re increasing the complexity of the tissues that we print,” Laksman added, aiming eventually to print heart patches or even full organs.
Key challenges remain: printing entire organs requires functional blood vessels and microscopic precision. Adjacent to Laksman’s lab, Dr. Yuan Yao studies vascular bio-fabrication to enable “printing vascularized cardiac tissues.” Current printers lack the resolution to replicate the finest capillaries, but progress is steady.
“The idea of 3D printing tissue is one of the most exciting areas of regenerative medicine in the world right now,” said Dr. Laksman. Beyond the heart, HLI scientist Dr. Emmanuel Osei has already created a bioprinted lung model, underscoring the vast potential of this technology to transform regenerative medicine and personalized healthcare.
