Recent Technological Innovations to Promote Cardiovascular Research

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major global health concern. Several therapeutic strategies for CVDs are available, such as medicine, cardiac assist devices, and heart transplantation. However, they are insufficient for the treatment of severe CVD. To develop novel, innovative treatment approaches for CVDs, it is imperative to understand the underlying pathophysiology and to undertake basic research on this facet. The generation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells has opened avenues for developing new strategies for disease analysis and drug development. This technology has made it possible to obtain pluripotent stem cells from patients with genetic disorders, model the disease in a dish, and use such cells for future regeneration therapy. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence (AI), which is widely used for big data analysis in basic research, has potential in various applications in medicine. New tools such as iPS cells and AI can provide much needed novel insights into CVDs. This review focuses on the recent progress in cardiovascular research using these new technologies.