Research in the field of heart muscle tissue engineering is focused on the fabrication of heart muscle tissue which can be utilized to repair, replace and/or augment functionality of damaged and/or diseased tissue. In the simplest embodiment, bioengineering heart muscle tissue constructs involves culture of cardiomyocytes within natural or synthetic scaffolds. Functional integration of the cells with the scaffold and subsequent remodeling lead to the formation of 3D heart muscle tissue and physiological cues like mechanical stretch, electrical stimulation and perfusion are necessary to guide tissue maturation and development. Potential applications for bioengineered heart muscle include use as grafts to repair or replace damaged tissue, as models for basic research and as tools for high-throughput screening of pharmacological agents. In this article, we provide a methodological process to bioengineer functional 3D heart muscle tissue and discuss state of the art and potential challenges in each of the nine-step tissue fabrication process.

心肌组织工程领域的研究集中在制造可用于修复、替换和/或增强受损和/或患病组织的功能的心肌组织。在最简单的实施方案中，生物工程心肌组织构建体涉及在天然或合成支架内培养心肌细胞。细胞与支架的功能整合和随后的重塑导致 3D 心肌组织的形成，机械拉伸、电刺激和灌注等生理线索对于指导组织成熟和发育是必要的。生物工程心肌的潜在应用包括用作修复或替换受损组织的移植物、用作基础研究模型以及用作高通量筛选药剂的工具。