NICE Chip™
The Non-Invasive Contractility Evaluation (NICE) platform is essentially a smart petri dish designed specifically for heart cells. While traditional petri dishes just provide a flat surface for cells to grow, the NICE platform contains special materials that can measure how strongly heart cells are beating without disturbing them.
Think of it like a fitness tracker for heart cells. When heart cells contract (beat), they create tiny mechanical movements. The NICE platform has a special material (piezoelectric-PDMS or PE-PDMS) that converts these tiny mechanical movements into electrical signals, similar to how pressure on a touchscreen creates an electrical response. These signals are then measured to tell researchers exactly how strongly the heart cells are contracting without needing to constantly observe them under a microscope.
This technology allows scientists to test how heart cells from different people respond to various drugs or treatments, potentially leading to more personalized heart treatments.
Technical Details
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The NICE platform is a microfluidic, cell-culture device designed for non-invasive, real-time measurement of cardiomyocyte contractility. The platform integrates piezoelectric polydimethylsiloxane (PE-PDMS), a novel biomaterial composed of polyvinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene (P(VDF-TrFE)) blended with PDMS at optimized concentrations (typically 1-7%).
The system features:
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A multilayered construction with:
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A base glass slide supporting gold microelectrodes
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A PE-PDMS layer containing laser-cut cantilevers
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Multiple cell culture chambers divided by walls
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An optional top glass cover
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Functional elements:
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Cantilevers (0.3mm × 1.2mm) cut into the PE-PDMS layer that deflect in response to cellular contractile forces
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Embedded gold microelectrodes positioned beneath the PE-PDMS layer to detect electrical signals generated from cantilever deflection
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Edge connectors that transmit voltage signals to a data acquisition system
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Biomechanical transduction mechanism:
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The PE-PDMS material converts mechanical energy from cardiomyocyte contractions into proportional electrical signals
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Voltage output directly correlates with contractile force, allowing quantitative assessment of cardiac function
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The platform has been validated for both short-term (8 days) and long-term (28 days) culture of cardiomyocytes, maintaining cell viability, phenotype, and functional parameters (beat frequency, calcium cycling). The PE-PDMS material demonstrates consistent sensitivity after fatigue testing, ensuring measurement reliability during extended experiments.
This technology offers significant advantages over traditional cantilever-based systems that require constant optical monitoring and manual analysis, providing automated, continuous, non-invasive monitoring of contractile function in a high-throughput format.
Current Status
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​​The current status of the NICE Chip involves finalizing the base design, with validation studies now commencing. The PCT application for the associated patent WO2024173231A2.
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