Electrical signals from different parts of the same cell have been simultaneously recorded for the first time, thanks to a new technique for attaching nanowire probes. This could aid the study of how heart, muscle and brain cells function and communicate.


The method uses a device called a nanowire field effect transistor (NWFET). This consists of a silicon wire just 20 nanometres in diameter attached to metal electrodes on a substrate of silicon dioxide. The nanowire, which sticks out by 30 to 40 nanometres, can be used as a probe to amplify the electrical signals produced by anything it touches.
….
They grow heart cells taken from chicken embryos on transparent polymer substrates and then transfer the cells to the nanowire array. Each cell is then positioned over up to 10 nanowires with the aid of a microscope. “We can do measurements that weren’t possible before,” says Lieber.

Besides making simultaneous measurements from different parts of the same cell, the wires can record the signals produced by several cells in the same tissue culture at the same time.

Modern wetware is a less disappointing field to look at all the time.

Related External Links