Automated patch-clamping technologies are emerging to replace laborious manual processing, with approaches emphasizing either data quality comparable to conventional methods or much higher throughput.
Automated patch-clamping technologies are evolving to address the low throughput of conventional methods, with future developments aiming to combine high data quality with high throughput.
Electrophysiological measurements, in particular, patch clamping, have long been regarded as the "gold standard" for assaying ion channels. Despite its high information content, the technique suffers from laborious, manual processing by highly skilled workers and extremely low throughput. Recently, a number of researchers have started to automate patch clamping by either automating conventional micropipette-based patch clamping or developing planar microelectrode arrays. This article reviews the brief history of these emerging technologies and discusses the technical details, advantages, and disadvantages of each approach and technique. As will be evident from the discussion, two types of automated patch-clamping technologies are emerging. The first places emphasis on data quality, comparable to conventional patch clamping, and the second has much higher throughput. Future developments will include sophisticated patch-clamping devices with both high-quality data and high throughput capabilities and further integration of patch clamping with other cell-based assays.
Wang et al. (Wed,) conducted a review in Ion channel assaying. Automated patch clamping vs. Conventional manual patch clamping was evaluated. Automated patch-clamping technologies are emerging to replace laborious manual processing, with approaches emphasizing either data quality comparable to conventional methods or much higher throughput.
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