Development of a cell-based drug screening platform: extracellular recording and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy on microelectrode array chips

Abstract

Two established methods, Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) and extracellular recording, were implemented into a technology platform for non-invasive whole-cell biosensing. Electrical activity of cardiomyocytes and cell-substrate interaction of human ovarian cancer cells was monitored on electrode array chips. The performance of cells inside a microfluidic or closed low volume environment was investigated. Prior to the development of the entire microfluidic platform the two transducing methods were evaluated in single experiments. Processes as cellular attachment and detachment were monitored using EIS and single frequency impedance sensing. Electrodes of different size and structure were employed and compared for their impedance response. It was shown that small electrodes (A = 9·10-6 cm²) are more sensitive to cell-substrate interaction than larger ones (A = 9·10-5 cm²) and that the frequency used for analysis has a profound influence on the sensitivity. Data were modelled using a common equivalent circuit that represents a cell layer on an electrode resulting in an increase of the impedance magnitude by

Date of Award	1 Oct 2007
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bath
Supervisor	Toby Jenkins (Supervisor)