Nature Sub-Journal: "Pop-up" electronic sensor can detect the bad behavior of a single heart cell

Engineers at the University of California, San Diego have developed a powerful new tool that uses tiny "pop-up" sensors to monitor electrical activity in heart cells without damaging the cells

The device was published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology on December 23, and can enable scientists to deal with issues such as arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms), heart attacks, and myocardial fibrosis (hardening or thickening of heart tissue).

"The study of how electrical signals spread between different cells is important for understanding cell function and the mechanisms of disease," said first author Gu Yue, who recently received a PhD in materials science and engineering from the University of California, San Diego

"With this device, we can zoom in to the cell level and get a very high-resolution image to understand the condition of the heart; we can see which cells are malfunctioning, which parts are not synchronized with other parts, and determine the weak signal Position," said senior author Xu Sheng, a professor of nanoengineering at the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California, San Diego

The device consists of a three-dimensional array of microscopic field effect transistors (FETs), shaped like pointed tips

"This is what makes this device unique," Gu said

To make the device, the team first made the fet into 2D shapes, and then glued the selected points of these shapes on a pre-stretched elastomer sheet

"It's like a pop-up book," Gu said

The team tested the device on cultured cardiomyocytes and laboratory-designed heart tissue

More exciting, Xu said, this is the first time scientists have been able to measure intracellular signals in a three-dimensional tissue structure

The team’s experiment led to an interesting observation: The signal propagation speed within a single heart cell is almost 5 times faster than the signal propagation speed between multiple heart cells

Biologists can also use this device to study signal transmission between different organelles in cells, Gu added

The device can also be used to study the electrical activity inside neurons

Article title

Three-dimensional transistor arrays for intra- and inter-cellular recording