Biosensor Platform for Simultaneous Measurement of Mechanical and Electrophysiological Properties of Drug-Induced Cardiomyocytes

In this paper, we introduce a novel device for simultaneous measurement of contractility and field potential of cardiomyocytes in-vitro. The proposed device consists of a thin polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) diaphragm and Au-based microelectrode arrays (MEAs) on a single device. 800 nm nano-grooves were patterned on the 10 µm thick PDMS diaphragm to promote alignment of cardiomyocytes and to enhance cell contractility. 32 microelectrodes were symmetrically positioned on both side of the PDMS diaphragm. The combination of these sensors provided a complete understanding of the mechano-electrophysiological properties of cardiomyocytes throughout culture period - including key characteristics such as amplitude of contraction, duration of depolarization and repolarization and field potential duration (FPD). After conducting simultaneous study of field potential and contractility, drug toxicity screening experiment was conducted to precisely identifying changes in cardiac properties under the effect of drug.