Electrical engineering

Physics

Electrode

Capacitor

Noise (video)

Image (mathematics)

Engineering

Biomedical engineering

Voltage

Physical chemistry

Artificial intelligence

Acoustics

Chemistry

Materials science

Capacitive sensing

Extracellular

Computer science

Capacitance

Optoelectronics

Biochemistry

Medicine

Intracellular

Sensing and Bio-Sensing Research

An electrical method to measure extracellular bioelectrical activity in vitro is presented. This method exploits the Helmholtz capacitive double-layer established at the electrode surface. Small extracellular voltage variations in the order of μVs induce through the double-layer capacitor a displacement current that is measured. This current is then enhanced by a gain factor proportional to the electrode capacitance. In addition, when measurements are carried out at low frequencies in current mode the electrode contribution to the noise can be minimized. The performance of the electrodes and the method is demonstrated using zebrafish hearts and glioma cell cultures. We propose that this electrical method is an ideal tool to measure in vitro slow and temporally synchronized events that are often involved in long range intracellular signaling.

An electrical method to measure low-frequency collective and synchronized cell activity using extracellular electrodes