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HaripriyaSundaramurthy
IntrotoBioE
Dr.TingChen
19December2014
FinalReportforBME
EthicalIssuesintheFieldofBiomedicalEngineering:HeartCellReconstruction
Therearetradeoffsbetweenthegoodandthebadwhenitcomestobiomedical
engineering.Althoughitisclearastowhyandhowsomeadvancesinthebiomedicalfiledmay
beabletohelphumankind,manyoftheminvolveethicalissuesthatprohibitthemfrombeing
fullyacceptedinsociety.Religion,personalpreference,andanimalrightsallplayavitalrole
behindthepossibilityoftissuecellreconstruction.
Asexpectedwithanymedicaladvance,technologyplaysahugeroleinthis
breakthrough.Themaingoalforcardiacmuscleengineeringistoprovidefunctionalcells,or
tissues,torepairdiseased,damaged,orunusualhearts.Severalenablingtechnologieshavebeen
establishedoverthepast10yearstoachievethis,butresearchattheUniversityofHoustonhas
gottenveryfarwithinthelastyearitself.Byperfectingthisongoingprocess,wewouldbeable
tohelpsomanypatientswhohavecardiorelatedproblems.
Patientswhoneedahearttransplantarelowonoptions.Manypatientscannotaffordor
letalonegetaheartforatransplant.Statisticshaveproventhatsurvivalratesincreaseifhearts
transplantsarefromthesamedonor (NBCNews).Asifmatchinggenderwasn'tenough,heart
transplantsreknowntobeoneofthemostselectivetransplantproceduresinmedicine.Tissue

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type,bloodtype,andotherbiologicalfactorsplayandimportantroleinfindingtheperfect
match.Evenaftertheperfectmatchismade,manypeoplesufferfromotherheartcomplications
duetothetransplant.Thelowoddsareahugefactorofwhymanypeoplestillsufferanddie
todayduetotheirheartconditions,whichcouldhavebeeneasilypreventedorfixedthrougha
newheart.Thesereasonsandmoreprovewhyheartcellreconstructionisnecessarytohelp
lowertherateofcardiorelatedproblems.
Theprocessofmakingtheactualhearttissueiscomplicateditself.Themaingoalfor
cardiacmuscleengineeringistoprovidefunctionalcells,ortissues,torepairdiseased,damaged,
orunusualhearts.Sometimesbuildingthewholeheartitselfcouldbeunnecessarysopartial
heartreconstructionisalsoanoption.Severalenablingtechnologieshavebeenestablishedover
thepast10yearstoachievethis,butresearchattheUniversityofHoustonhasgottenveryfar
withinthelastyearitself.Byperfectingthisongoingprocess,wewouldbeabletohelpthemany
patientswhohavecardiorelatedproblems.Sincesearchingfortheperfecthearttypeisdifficult
andimpractical,wearetryingtofindawaytomaketheperfecthearttype.
Tissue engineering is difficult enough on its own but the cardiac
tissue proves to be especially difficult because it is complicated by its
structural and functional complexity (Reconstruction). Building a heart from
scratch would require the assembly of multiple functional units onto a base
called a scaffold, which is where the cells will be tested on and grown on. At
our research center, we use a rats heart, cells, and empty shell of a heart for

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a scaffold. At the end, all parts would have to be able to function as a single
entity, with all the structure and behavior of a normal cell.
As a heart cell, these stem cells have to be able to contract and
relax in synch to pump blood, withstand diastolic loading, and adapt
appropriately to immediate physiologic stimuli such as in moments of fear.
Sometimes jumper cells could lose purpose and stop beating because it
has no reason too (Cardiovascular). Researchers must also make sure to
keep the sample alive long enough to experiment on. Embryonic and adult
stem cells can give rise to functional cardiac myocytes, these would be the
cells we use. Regular heart tissue aside, bioartificial valves have already
been tested in humans with some encouraging, yet preliminary results.
Although with these advancements, we would be able to knock
off congenital heart diseases and other cardiac issues from the list of threats,
some of the drawbacks to this are environmental factors. Population would
increase around the world once this is perfected enough to mass produce.
This discovery would also possibly lead us to reconstruction of similarly
complex organs, such as the kidneys.
The use of any sort of technological device will harm the
environment, and many environmental groups might protest. Energy usages
and pollution are side effects in any technological advance, it is inevitable.
Another minus point is testing the treatments on animals. Animals rights

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activists will protest against the usage of rats and their hearts to successfully
reconstruct a human heart. Ethical issues, such as religion, would also come
up. Some people might question what gives us the right to create life. We
also have no clue of the possible health risks of getting a heart transplant.
The protests would cause a slight delay, and in the process a new,
clean, and ethical way of doing the same thing might be discovered. Treatment on
animals is necessary because we can learn so much from it. It is a means of us
advancing onward. One of the biggest problems would be mass producing this.
Opening it up to other countries is only part of this problem. There needs to be a
more efficient and less time consuming way. So, the tradeoffs or compromises
between both sides are just a matter of opinion.

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References
"HeartTransplantSurvival."NBCNews.N.p.,n.d.Web.
CardiovascularResearch. HeartMuscleEngineering:AnUpdateonCardiacMuscle
ReplacementTherapy.N.p.,n.d.Web.07Nov.2014