Illustration of the device interfacing with heart cells (top). The sensors can monitor electrical signals in multiple single cells at once (bottom left) and at two sites in one cell (bottom right). Image adapted from Nature Nanotechnology<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nThe basis of the device is an array of tiny field effect transistors that the researchers have coated with a phospholipid bilayer. This coating allows them to penetrate inside the cell without eliciting a foreign body response, which would hamper long-term measurements of electrical activity. The tiny probes are sensitive enough to measure electrical signals within one cell but they can also track signals that travel through several cells.<\/p>\n
The device features a \u2018pop-up\u2019 structure, as the researchers bonded the transistors onto a pre-stretched elastomer sheet, and when they released the tension the transistors erected to form a 3D structure. \u201cIt\u2019s like a pop-up book,\u201d said Gu. \u201cIt starts out as a 2D structure, and with compressive force it pops up at some portions and becomes a 3D structure.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
So far, the UCSD team tested the technology on cardiac cell cultures in the lab, and have already gained some insights into the speed at which signals propagate through individual cells and groups of cells. However, the device may also have potential in researching neurological diseases, and could allow researchers to study the electrical impulses within neurons. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Study in Nature Nanotechnology<\/em>: Three-dimensional transistor arrays for intra- and inter-cellular recording<\/p>\nVia: University of California San Diego<\/p>\n
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