Electrical recordings from rat cardiac muscle cells using field-effect transistors

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular physiology
• Bioelectronics
• Electrophysiology

Background:

• Cardiac electrophysiology is crucial for heart function.
• Field-effect transistors (FETs) offer novel platforms for cellular recordings.
• Understanding cell-device interactions is key for biosensor development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate extracellular electrophysiological recordings from cardiac cells.
• To characterize cell-transistor coupling mechanisms using microfabricated FET arrays.
• To differentiate between passive and active contributions to recorded signals.

Main Methods:

• Cultured cardiac cells on microfabricated field-effect transistor (FET) arrays for up to seven days.
• Performed extracellular electrophysiological recordings.
• Analyzed recorded signals to classify cell-transistor coupling types.

Main Results:

• Two distinct types of cell-transistor coupling were observed.
• One coupling type was explained by passive circuitry elements.
• A second coupling type was significantly influenced by voltage-gated ion channels.

Conclusions:

• Microfabricated FET arrays can effectively record extracellular electrophysiological signals from cardiac cells.
• The recorded signals reveal distinct coupling mechanisms, including passive and active (ion channel-mediated) components.
• This work provides insights into cell-device interactions for advanced biosensing applications.