A PDMS Planar Patch-Clamp Array Chip with Poly (Ethylene Glycol)/SU-8 based Cell-Patch Interface

This paper presents a new PDMS planar patch-clamp array chip integrated with microfluidic units and a poly (ethylene glycol)/SU-8 mixture based cell-patch interface for whole cell recordings. In our experiments, the PEG/SU-8 mixture with the weight ratio of 1:1 has been proven to have improved properties to fabricate perfect apertures compared with PDMS for cell-patch interface, such as large Young´s modulus and good hydrophilic surface properties. The integrated chip was tested to trap 20 mum polystyrene microsphere onto 2iquestm aperture by a negative pressure, and the variation of impedance spectra in trapping process demonstrated that the excellent sealing resistance has been achieved. Our present results indicate the potential of a planar patch-clamp array chip system with PEG/SU-8 base cell-patch interface for high-throughput whole cell recording.