Scientists say they have created a robotic fish that swims like the heartbeats. Harvard University researchers teamed up with Emory University researchers to create the first fully autonomous bio-hybrid fish.
The artificial fish was made from human heart cells. It is able to move because it recreates the muscle contractions of a pumping heart. Scientists believe this technology will help them study heart conditions like arrhythmia and could one day lead to them being able to build an artificial heart.
The research team published its findings in the journal Science last week, and a video released by the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (Seas) on Twitter shows a small robotic fish flapping its tail and moving about for about 20 seconds. The study marks a hopeful step in the advancement of heart treatments such as pacemakers.
“The benefit of this fish project is that we are still trying to master the craft of using live cells as an engineering substrate,” Kit Parker, one of the authors of the study, told the Guardian on Monday.
“The heart is extremely complex and it’s not enough to mimic the anatomy,” added Parker, a Seas professor. “One must recreate the biophysics in order to have the robust behavior required of building engineered hearts for children born with malformed hearts.”
