St. Petersburg has developed a mobile laboratory for creating an artificial heart
ITMO University has created Russia's first mobile laboratory-cube for working with cells. The press service of the university reported about the research "Hitek".Researchers from ITMO University, Siberian Federal University, the Fund for Infrastructure and Educational Programs and "Scientific and Production Association Prolab" have created a mobile laboratory that is suitable for working with any cells. With the help of artificial intelligence, scientists will conduct research in the field of tissue engineering.
Working with cell cultures places high demands on environmental conditions: temperature, sterility, humidity. Traditionally, specially equipped rooms inside "stationary" laboratories are used for these purposes. Researchers have developed a cube with a rib length of 3 meters, which is easy to move and can be used for different tasks.
The design of the cube includes a special ventilation and sterilization system: HEPA filters will remove foreign particles and bacteria from the air. In addition, the unit is equipped with a microscope for studying cultures, a carbon dioxide generation unit for creating optimal conditions for their growth and additional equipment for cell preservation and research.
Manipulations with cells instead of a laboratory technician can be carried out by a robot arm installed inside the cube. Now it works under human control. The results of observations of the cells are loaded into a database and analyzed with the help of AI, which suggests possible further directions of research. In the future, the researchers want to fully automate the process and eliminate the participation of a lab technician.
The unit will be suitable for growing "organs on a chip" - artificial structures made of cells that mimic the work of real organs. One of the objectives of the research is to create a model of the heart, and in the future to grow a full-fledged artificial organ.
With the help of such systems we will select materials and "train" cells, make them contract like myocardium, the muscular heart tissue. This is important for our global goal - to create a full-fledged artificial heart tissue in the future.