- Most experienced electrophysiologists are familiar with the tedious process known as traditional electrophysiology: equipped with a stopwatch and ground wire in one hand, controlling mechanical valves and the recording device in the other, users find their patience and diligence tested during time- and effort- intensive experiments. Long experiments such as dose-response curves and drug screens may be especially frustrating. Additionally, data that has been collected needs to be analyzed manually - amplitudes must be read and be entered into an Excel spreadsheet or a Prism-like program for further analysis. But in our lab, this scenario is nothing but a horror of antiquity. We've made electrophysiology fun!
- Imagine this alternative scenario: The user flushes perfusion tubing with solutions, places an oocyte into the recording chamber, then impales and clamps the oocyte, all in a span of 10 minutes. Following this, the user presses start and is able to walk away, allowing the computer-controlled apparatus to do the rest of the work. The user is now free to spend that time more efficiently - perhaps reading that high stack of papers or better yet writing new ones. This is electrophysiology of the future, high-throughput electrophysiology (HTEP).
- Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, this level of automation is not too expensive for a small lab. Cost may be reduced with the use of current amplifiers and micromanipulators. Or, for those labs just starting electrophysiology research, a system may be cost-effectively designed and built from scratch.
- Here at the HTEP Screening Center, we offer an HTEP upgrade package which will transform your manual system into a state-of-the-art, high-throughput workstation. At a low cost, you can upgrade your current equipment so that students, postdocs and technicians may run more time-efficient and reliable experiments you can have full confidence in.
- For more information about our HTEP system, technical specifications and ordering please visit our HTEP Tech website!
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