WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Oct. 23 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have developed a biochip that greatly increases researchers' ability to measure the electrical activities of cells.
The biochip produced by Purdue University researchers is said to be capable of obtaining 60 times more data in just one reading than is possible with current technology.
"Instead of doing one experiment per day, as is often the case, this technology is automated and capable of performing hundreds of experiments in one day," said Marshall Porterfield, a professor of agricultural and biological engineering who led the research team.
The device works by measuring the concentration of ions as they enter and exit cells. The chip can record those concentrations in up to 16 living cells temporarily sealed within fluid-filled pores in the microchip. With four electrodes per cell, the chip delivers 64 simultaneous, continuous sources of data.
Porterfield notes about 15 percent of the drugs currently in development affect the activities of ion channels that facilitate communication and the transfer of electrical signals from one cell to the next.
The device is described online in the journal Sensors and Actuators and the study is to appear in the journal's November print edition.
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