Label-free monitoring of excitation-contraction coupling and excitable cells using impedance based systems with millisecond time resolution

A system for continuously monitoring cells in real time, label free, with impedance-based analysis, the system comprising:

• a) a plurality of analog-to-digital (A2D) signal converters electrically arranged in parallel to one another;
• b) a well plate comprising a plurality of wells on a nonconductive substrate, wherein each well of the plurality of wells comprises one electrode array of a plurality of electrode arrays disposed on the nonconductive substrate that is connected to the plurality of A2D signal converters;
• c) an impedance analyzer connected to or including the plurality of A2D signal converters, wherein the impedance analyzer measures, via digitally converted signals from the A2D signal converters, a first plurality of cell-substrate impedances at a first time and a second plurality of cell-substrate impedances at a second time, the first plurality of cell-substrate impedances and the second plurality of cell-substrate impedances being measured between a first electrode structure and a second electrode structure in each electrode array and across a cell sample attached within each well of the plurality of wells;
• and
• d) a software program that analyzes the first plurality of cell-substrate impedances from the first time and the second plurality of cell-substrate impedances from the second time to produce a plurality of time period analyses of the plurality of cell samples, wherein individual time period analyses of the plurality of time period analyses are associated with individual wells of the plurality of wells.

A system for continuously monitoring cells in real time, label free, with impedance-based analysis, the system comprising:

• a) a well plate comprising a plurality of electrode arrays formed on a nonconductive substrate, wherein each electrode array of the plurality of electrode arrays is disposed in a corresponding well of a plurality of wells defined by the well plate and includes a first electrode structure and a second electrode structure;
• b) an impedance analyzer that monitors, in association with individual cell samples in individual wells of the plurality of wells via each individual electrode array of the plurality of electrode arrays, a cell-substrate impedance between the first electrode structure and the second electrode structure across a cell sample disposed in a corresponding well of the plurality of wells;
• c) electronic circuitry that electrically connects the plurality of electrode arrays to the impedance analyzer;
• and
• d) a software program that continuously monitors each cell sample via the plurality of cell-substrate impedances across an analysis period of time with measurements recorded at a sampling time resolution during the period of time.