Fabrication of a novel Multi-Electrode Array (MEA) biochip using polyester insulated electrodes with microwell features for cardiomyocyte analysis

There is an increasing interest in Multi-Electrode Array (MEA) technology arising from a diversity of bio-scientific areas, which is especially strong in stem cell, drug discovery or safety pharmacology applications. There are limitations in the quantity of useful data captured during an MEA-based trial that can be attributed to reasons such as the time intensive nature of MEA application, the subsequent time-consuming and often complex data analysis, and the lack of standardisation between applications. MEAs that are more widely applicable to the diverse and demanding requirements of applications in research and industry are necessary to improve efficiencies and reduce costs. Existing electronics manufacturing approaches have been brought together here to realise a novel MEA biochip. Fabrication of this MEA biochip design that is suited to higher throughput screening of cardiomyocyte-based drug trials has been pursued. The MEA biochip has been successfully manufactured using approaches that are novel in this application domain. Results achieved have provided a device that has supported cell survival and attachment. Assessment of practical bioscientific protocols using this device compared to a standard model indicates that the design changes implemented in this setting could save users up to approximately £115 per experiment, in terms of labour cost savings alone.