2D and 3D in-vitro models for mimicking cardiac physiology

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality and a huge economic burden on the healthcare system globally. Both pharmacological and device based treatment options have emerged over the years, however, it is still a ‘holy grail’ to effectively treat some cardiovascular conditions, for example, heart failure. Any treatment option whether it is drug therapy or a device therapy, has to go through a rigorous regulatory approval process. This requires robust pre-clinical research and clinical trial results. In order to proceed to the clinical trials, pre-clinical research is very important and may take methodologies which are at the interface of biology and engineering, for example, in-vitro, ex-vivo and in-vivo models. This paper focusses on the 2D and 3D in-vitro models to mimic the pathophysiology of a specific cardiovascular disease and their advantages and limitations.