Heart Smart System

HeartSmart is a Dutch biotechnology company and spin-off from Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and TU Delft that has developed a high-throughput platform for modeling human heart disease. The company's technology utilizes human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived cardiomyocytes, fibroblasts, and endothelial cells to create miniaturized engineered heart tissues in a 96-well plate format. A key innovation is their proprietary 'SupraGel,' a tunable biomaterial that mimics the progressive stiffening of cardiac tissue seen in fibrosis, allowing for more predictive drug testing and the measurement of contraction force without the need for animal models. The platform is designed to accelerate the development of effective antifibrotic therapies for heart failure patients.